Tillis, Colleagues Sound the Alarm on Rapidly Rising Cost of Servicing National Debt

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis and his colleagues recently sent a letter to Congressional Budget

Office (CBO) Director Swagel highlighting their concerns with the rising cost of servicing the nearly $34 trillion national debt.

“We write seeking an updated assessment from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the effects of decades-high interest rates on the net interest costs of servicing the nearly $34 trillion, and growing, federal debt, and effects of elevated consumer price inflation that continues to remain above the Federal Reserve’s two percent target,” the senators wrote.

“Driven by out of control federal spending and rising interest rates, the U.S. spent $659 billion on servicing the federal debt in Fiscal Year 2023, a $184 billion increase from the previous year and nearly double the cost from just three years ago. Since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates eleven times, pursuing such an aggressive rate-hiking campaign in an effort to combat the out of control inflation that has hung over the U.S. economy for years as a result of trillions of dollars in reckless partisan spending passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Biden. Future rate hikes and higherfor-longer rates are likely as elevated inflation remains a major concern for American households who continue to see the purchasing power of their wages erode,” the senators continued.

“Given the upcoming twoday meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on December 12th and 13th at which the Federal Reserve may choose to raise interest rates for a twelfth time, please reply as soon as possible after December 13th so that lawmakers and the public can be equipped with the most accurate data possible when making policy decisions,” the senators concluded.