As we close out 2024, the U.S. national debt has eclipsed that truly mind-boggling number of $36 trillion. This concerning milestone has sparked worry among financial experts and economists. This historic debt poses major consequences for the nation’s economic security. As interest payments on this debt increase, so does the fiscal burden we are passing onto future generations. In fact, in April of this year, the U.S. paid an astonishing $11.7 billion in interest alone. This added to a much bigger story—interest payments up 9.5% for the fiscal year, hitting $684.1 billion.
Over $700 billion in Treasuries will be maturing over the next 12 months. Another $1.45 trillion is scheduled over the next five years, exacerbating fears of the solvency of U.S. debt management. Financial doomsayers from all political perspectives, such as national resource expert Justin Maharrey, are warning that our current debt trajectory is already tantamount to a Ponzi scheme. They warn that the U.S. is careening towards a fiscal cliff.
The Implications of Rising Interest Payments
Today, interest payments on the national debt have grown to be one of the largest and fastest-growing areas of concern for both policymakers and taxpayers. The federal government has allocated $684.1 billion on interest payments this fiscal year. This expansive financial commitment needs to be honored, regardless of what the state of the economy is.
As recently as April 2025, the U.S. government spent $11.7 billion just on interest, showing how rapidly these costs can add up. Such figures put enormous pressure on federal budgets. They rob money from other critical services and programs that make our economy prosper.
About $700 billion in Treasuries will mature over the course of the next year. This circumstance makes it necessary for more borrowing to be done just to fulfill obligations. The pressure on the federal budget will be acute as $1.45 trillion in Treasuries mature over the next five years. This leaves plenty of room for increased costs to grow.
Credit Ratings and Market Confidence
The increasing national debt is national stupidity and brought the claim spotlight. Moody’s recently downgraded U.S. debt from AAA to AA1, signaling a loss of confidence in the government’s financial health. This shift in mood is the big deal. It is the third major credit agency now to downgrade U.S. debt.
The implications of this downgrade are profound. Very simply, a lower credit rating means that the government has to spend more on borrowed money. This increases the difficulty of controlling our growing national debt even further. Alternatively, investors might require higher yields on government bonds, leading to rising interest payments that can become a death spiral.
From 1962 to 2011, Congress approved an increase in the debt ceiling 74 times. This pattern reflects a deeply irresponsible reliance on borrowing to avoid addressing these underlying fiscal challenges. The last piece of legislation increasing the debt ceiling added over $5 trillion to it. This trend has fueled concerns about our long-term fiscal discipline.
Global Trends and Diversification
As the U.S. faces the reality of its growing debt, recent global trends show that investors around the world are changing their driving beliefs. Around the world, central banks have been increasing their gold holdings behind the scenes, diversifying away from dependence on the U.S. dollar. To be sure, the implications of this trend for the future role of the dollar in global trade and finance remain to be seen.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Federal Reserve demonstrated a willingness to act boldly. It bought $2.44 trillion in Treasuries between March 2020 and May 2021 to finance those direct stimulus measures that stabilized the economy. Interestingly, during this time period, no one—foreign or domestic—purchased more U.S. debt than the Fed itself.
Although these actions were intended as short-term relief, they have created long-term uncertainty about how the U.S. will manage its debt going forward. As fiscal pressures escalate and global dynamics continue to change, it will be harder to keep the confidence needed for U.S. Treasury securities.
The Path Forward
Maharrey explains that unless we make drastic changes to our fiscal policy, America is headed straight towards a fiscal cliff. He insists that raising the debt ceiling by itself will not fix the nation’s financial issues. Instead, we need to clear up the deeper budgetary problems to really have an impact.
The legacy of U.S. debt management history shows a concerning pattern of using sticks rather than carrots and relying on short-term fixes instead of long-term solutions. The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 imposed an overall debt limit. This decision ignited contentious debates over fiscal accountability that continue to rage today.