Built by Democrats and Republicans, the $40 trillion debt bomb neither party will diffuse

America’s national debt has just blasted past the $40 trillion mark—a staggering milestone forged by decades of bipartisan overspending, tax cuts, and refusal by both Democrats and Republicans to confront the bill.”Washington has a spending problem, and the only way that we’re going to solve it is if we nuke the filibuster and get over the 60 vote threshold, and then pass a budget balance amendment. Many states in our country have to balance their budget. Your family has to balance their budget. Your business has to balance their budget. Why shouldn’t Washington? Washington doesn’t because it takes 60 votes to get anything done,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Just The News.
The modern explosion in U.S. national debt began in earnest in the 1980s, when the total first surpassed $1 trillion in 1981, Ronald Reagan’s first year as president, in part based on defense spending increases and growing entitlement costs that both parties refused to rein in. 
Steube warned against ignoring entitlement costs: “What’s going to end up happening is Medicare and Social Security is going to start to go insolvent in five years, and then suddenly those spending programs will have to, by statute, stop expending the amount of money that they are, and that’s going to touch a lot of Americans…60, 70%. And when that happens, suddenly Congress will have to do its job.”
After brief budget surpluses in the late 1990s, debt growth accelerated sharply in the 21st century under successive Republican and Democratic administrations. From roughly $5.7 trillion in 2000, it climbed past $10 trillion during the 2008 financial crisis, $20 trillion by 2017, $30 trillion in 2022, and $40 trillion in August 2026—more than doubling in under a decade. 
Modern money and America’s big spenders
Major contributors to the explosion of debt have included the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (launched under Republicans and continued by Democrats), large tax cuts enacted by both parties, massive stimulus packages responding to the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic (which alone added trillions in a short span with bipartisan support), expanding Social Security and Medicare costs that neither side has meaningfully reformed, and surging interest payments on the growing principal. 
Debt-to-GDP ratios, which hovered near 30–50% for decades after World War II, have now exceeded 120%, a direct result of persistent bipartisan deficits as Republicans prioritized tax cuts without offsetting spending restraint and Democrats expanded programs without sufficient revenue increases.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ In a nutshell, they’re all to blame. 
Steube discussed how that could happen if lawmakers united around passing a balanced budget amendment: “We can’t even pass a budget. Democrats aren’t going to vote to cut spending. We have to cut spending. I think passing a balanced budget amendment would put us on the path, but you have to get rid of the filibuster.”
Pinning the tail on the donkey
Public opinion on responsibility for the national debt remains closely divided along partisan lines, with many Americans assigning blame to both parties. A 2024 Blueprint Research poll found 52% of respondents primarily blamed Democrats and 48% blamed Republicans. 
A 2023 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll showed 40% saying both parties share responsibility for the current debt level, 31% pointing to Democrats, and 24% to Republicans. Trust on handling the issue also splits, with a 2025 Morning Consult survey showing 47% trusting Republicans in Congress more versus 39% for Democrats.
How the costly mess began
The spending problem creating the national debt dates back to the Revolutionary War, when the Continental Congress—lacking the power to levy taxes—borrowed heavily to finance the fight for independence. Leaders secured loans primarily from France and the Netherlands and issued “loan certificates” (early bonds) to domestic and foreign creditors. 
By January 1783, the public debt stood at roughly $43 million. Under the weak Articles of Confederation, the government struggled to service these obligations and even defaulted on some payments. The new Constitution and the creation of the Treasury Department in 1789 changed the picture. 
First Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, in his 1790 Report on Public Credit and the subsequent Funding Act, consolidated the federal and state Revolutionary War debts into a single national obligation. By January 1791, the total stood at approximately $75.5 million. Hamilton famously argued that “a national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing,” viewing managed debt as a tool to build creditworthiness and unify the young republic. The only time the nation has been debt-free was briefly in 1835 under President Andrew Jackson.  ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Amanda Head is White House Correspondent for Just the News. You can follow her here. 

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