Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent gives a press briefing in May. The national debt is rising significantly. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The national debt hit $40 trillion Tuesday, a record high, signaling that the government is borrowing at a record pace.
The debt has risen thanks to government borrowing to keep pace with rising costs of the military, social safety net programs and tax cuts.
"On our current path, we're going to be at $50 trillion in just six years. If you look backward, we were at $20 trillion less than 10 years ago," Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a fiscal watchdog group, told CNN. "We're really putting our economy and our country's future in jeopardy."
This year, the country is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion to pay for the war in Iran, tax cuts from 2025 and rising interest payments to investors, The New York Times reported.
