Federal Spending, Interest Payments in Focus as National Debt Tops $33 Trillion

Federal spending is poised to top $6.5 trillion in the current fiscal year, up 33 percent from the pre-crisis level of $4.875 trillion.

A billboard showing the U.S. national debt in Washington on July 10, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu /The Epoch Times

The national debt eclipsed $33 trillion on Sept. 15, while the budget deficit is on track to reach $2 trillion in the current fiscal year. Experts say that the public is becoming numb to these figures because they’ve become the new normal in Washington.

But while soaring debt and deficits are the status quo in the nation’s capital, economists are combing through the books to assess the U.S. government’s fiscal condition.