Lawmakers Add $380 Billion to the Debt in the Final Hours of 2024
With the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act and the American Relief Act, Congress and the President approved $1 trillion in new ten-year debt in calendar year 2024 – a reversal from 2023’s $1.3 trillion in net ten-year debt reduction. CRFB’s Debt Thermometer for 2024 (below) has been updated to reflect these estimates.
The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
Coming off of 2023, where we saw significant savings driven by the enactment of the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, we had high hopes that 2024 would be a continuation of that trend. With interest rates and costs surging, debt projected to hit its new record in just two years, and Social Security hitting insolvency within a decade, one would think policymakers would choose to continue to reduce projected borrowing.
Yet they did just the opposite. In 2024, we saw a combined $1 trillion in new ten-year debt added – the result of about $600 billion of legislation and $400 billion of executive actions. More than half of the debt from legislation – a whopping $380 billion – happened in just the final day of the 118th Congress.
Heading into the new year, new Congress, and new presidential administration, it’s time for a new year’s resolution of no new borrowing – ensuring that all policy priorities are fully paid for – along with a commitment to enact significant deficit reduction.
There are many fiscal deadlines coming up in 2025, including the return of the debt ceiling, the end of discretionary spending caps, the expiration of many parts of the tax code, and – remarkably – the need to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year and the next. It is a small ask for Congress and the President to do their jobs next year in a fiscally responsible way.
