WASHINGTON: Total US debt has topped $40 trillion for the first time, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday, drawing fresh warnings that a fiscal crisis is brewing as ballooning costs for social safety-net programs and interest payments far outstrip revenues held back by tax cuts. The Treasury’s latest daily cash and debt balances statement showed total public debt outstanding at $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, a total that includes Treasury securities held by the public of $32.266 trillion and intra-governmental debt holdings of $7.782 trillion.

The federal debt reached $40 trillion as the government adds red ink at a rapid rate. That's leading nervous investors to demand higher interest rates —pushing up borrowing costs…

Pandemia, cortes de impostos e déficits aceleraram endividamento na última década

The national debt is now over $40 trillion, a historic high that economists warn is bad news for the United States.