Overview
- The Treasury reported total public debt at $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, a figure that includes about $32.266 trillion held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intra-governmental accounts.
- The climb to $40 trillion reflects a decade of deficits driven by pandemic-era borrowing, growing entitlement outlays and recent tariff-refund liabilities that turned customs receipts negative.
- Markets have priced the heavier supply and fiscal uncertainty into higher long-term yields, with 30-year yields reaching multi-decade highs after a large Treasury auction.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the Treasury will double 10- to 30-year buyback sizes to at least $4 billion per operation as a direct step to calm long-end yields.
- Rising interest costs of roughly $1.0–1.2 trillion are crowding the budget, watchdogs warn there is no bipartisan fiscal fix yet, and analysts say weaker foreign demand for Treasuries and heavy issuance could raise borrowing costs further.