The number 40 trillion — 40 followed by 12 zeros — is largely incomprehensible as it pertains to everyday life. But for context, consider that 40 trillion seconds amounts to nearly 1.3 million years. Or that 40 trillion pennies would weigh 100 million metric tons and fill about 71 Olympic-sized pools.
This massive quantity took on added significance when the national debt rolled past $40 trillion on Tuesday, doubling in just 10 years. Never mind that U.S. coffers have been flooded with record revenue in recent years. The federal government consistently spends far more than it takes in.
“For perspective,” noted Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “it took nearly 200 years for America’s gross debt to reach $1 trillion for the first time in 1981. At that time, President Reagan told the nation in a televised address, ‘If we as a nation needed a warning, let that be it.’ Jumping to America’s 250th year, we are spending more than that just on interest payments on our debt.”
Indeed, the U.S. government now shells out more on servicing the debt each year than it spends on defense or Medicare. Interest costs accounted for 14 percent of all federal spending in fiscal 2025.
This is not just a theoretical concern. Higher debt levels can lead to higher interest rates on Treasury securities, which push up borrowing costs. “If the Treasury rate is going up, that means your mortgage rate is going up, your car loan is going up, your credit card rates are going up,” Michael Peterson, CEO of the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation, told CBS News.
In addition, higher interest payments siphon money from other federal programs.
Washington’s spending addiction is a bipartisan problem. But it’s also a voter problem. While many Americans express concern about the nation’s fiscal trajectory, they rarely hold those they elect accountable for sitting idly by as the red ink accumulates at a record pace. Voters also often susceptible to the special pleading that, like night follows day, accompanies even the most minimal spending reductions.
Republicans and Democrats can debate whether spending restraint, tax hikes or some combination of the two represent the sanest way forward. But it’s worth noting that confiscating the assets of every U.S. billionaire would fund the government for little more than a year. Ignoring the spending side the equation is a recipe for an economic train wreck.
With Social Security and Medicare facing financial issues in the near future — and the debt set to hit $50 trillion in six years — it is no longer tenable for sitting members of Congress to avert their eyes. As Ms. MacGuineas notes, elected officials need to take action because, “No one knows how many more of these milestones America can take.”
