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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. national debt hit a new milestone, as the nation's debt rose above $35 trillion. Utah's two senators, Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, responded to the news by raising alarm bells about the effect debt has on the nation's economy.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the national debt reached $35 trillion on Friday, adding a trillion dollars in just seven months.
"We are going to have to get serious about the debt, and soon," said Maya MacGuineas, the committee's president, in a statement Monday. "Election years cannot be an exception for trying to prevent completely foreseeable dangers — and the debt is one of the major dangers we are facing."
Both of Utah's senators responded to news of the rising debt by warning that the nation cannot continue to add debt at the current trajectory without consequences for the economy and ultimately for Americans' pocketbooks.
"America's national debt just hit $35 trillion for the first time in history," Lee said in a post on social platform X. "It was driven by appropriators in both parties through decades of spending, borrowing, and kicking the can down the road. Either Congress closes the checkbook — or the checkbook disappears entirely."
Romney, who has proposed the Fiscal Stability Act, also said it was time for Congress to act.
"In just seven months, our national debt has ballooned by another trillion dollars — now exceeding $35 trillion! The public debt is growing at a rate never before seen in the history of this country, putting our economy and global leadership on the fast track to calamity," Romney said in a post on X.
He continued, "It's immoral for my generation to keep adding to the debt, expecting our grandchildren to foot the bill for our benefits for the rest of their lives. Our Fiscal Stability Act would stabilize our nation's finances for future generations before it's too late."
Romney's legislation, which he proposed with independent Sen. Joe Manchin, would create a bipartisan commission made up of 16 members, of which 12 would be elected officials from the House and Senate, along with four outside experts. If the commission achieved bipartisan consensus on solutions to tackle the debt, the legislation would require Congress to bring the proposal forward for an up or down vote.
The rising cost of Social Security and Medicare are the primary drivers of the increase in the debt, alongside high interest payments.
The U.S. is now spending more per year on interest payments on its debt than it is spending on national defense or on Medicare.
