The total outstanding debt of the United States government stands at $22.01 trillion, the Treasury Department said in its detailed report on Tuesday.
This is $2.06 trillion higher than two years ago, when US President Donald Trump took office. The pace of growth of government debt accelerated with the tax cuts enacted in December 2017. Increases in spending for defense also contributed negatively.
Earlier, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the budget deficit will be close to $900 billion in 2019.
"As we borrow trillion after trillion, interest costs will weigh on our economy and make it harder to fund important investments for our future," Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation which promotes fiscal conservativism, told the Washington Examiner.
