The U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace and has shown no signs of slowing down, despite the growing criticism of massive levels of government spending.
The national debt — which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — rose to $36,721,531,033,602.97 as of July 25th, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is up about $34.5 billion from the figure reported the previous day.
By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.
Interest payments on the debt for the government's fiscal year, which begins in October, now exceed the costs of Medicare and the defense budget.
The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House.
This has intensified with the recent passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will add $3.4 trillion to budget deficits over the next decade. Trump's team argues revenues from tariffs and faster economic growth will more than help offset rising debt.