House veterans: Cutting national debt has bipartisan support
Congressmen Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., joined Fox News Sunday to discuss future payments from the U.S. to Ukraine, balancing military spending with the national debt, and the Pentagon’s seventh straight audit failure.
The House voted to pass its yearly defense bill, adding about another $1 trillion to the $36 trillion national debt. The 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) details how $895.2 billion will be allocated towards defense and national security.
The bill passed 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 voted no. The legislation now heads to the Senate for passage before heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The national debt is seen to be growing rapidly, with the U.S. Treasury Department revealing that as of December 11, the national debt is $36,163,442,396,226.61, a decrease of $8.8 billion from the previous day. By comparison, 40 years ago, the national debt was about $907 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the national debt will grow to a staggering $54 trillion in the next decade due to an aging population and rising federal healthcare costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the problem of higher debt, potentially putting at risk America’s economic standing in the world.
In the past, President Biden has approved roughly $4.8 trillion in borrowing, including $1.85 trillion for the COVID relief measure dubbed the American Rescue Plan and $370 billion for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. This is more than the $2.5 trillion added by President Trump during his first term.
Biden has repeatedly defended the spending by his administration, boasting about cutting the deficit by $1.7 trillion. However, some experts argue that figure only refers to a reduction in the national deficit between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, largely due to the expiration of emergency measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.