America’s Fiscal Nightmare Just Got Scarier

The U.S. national debt officially crossed $40 trillion Wednesday as soaring deficits, rising interest costs and bond market turmoil added to investors’ anxieties about the federal government’s fiscal crisis.

The milestone was reached on the same day that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved to support the long-term Treasury market, doubling the size of government buybacks after yields surged to their highest levels in years, according to Reuters. The move underscored the growing pressure facing Washington as it tried to finance a $40 trillion debt burden while persistent deficits, rising interest costs and entitlement obligations continued to push federal borrowing higher.

The Treasury Department said it would increase buybacks of 10- to 30-year Treasury securities to at least $4 billion per operation, up from $2 billion, after the 30-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.34%, its highest level since 2007. The announcement initially pushed long-term yields lower, but the relief was short-lived as yields rebounded Thursday, underscoring the difficulty of addressing broader concerns about government borrowing through market intervention alone.

Publicly held debt stood at $32.266 trillion Tuesday, according to Treasury data, while publicly held debt was approaching levels last seen during World War II, according to the Journal.

Federal deficits remained around 6% of GDP in recent years, a level typically reached only during wars or recessions. The Congressional Budget Office projected debt held by the public would reach