At a Rotary Club gathering in Watertown, South Dakota, last year, Senator John Thune didnt hold back. The national debt, he warned, was a “ticking time bomb.”
He blamed both Republicans and Democrats for failing to defuse it. “You are never going to get Members of Congress willing to make hard votes to deal with the debt,” Thune said, “absent a president who is willing to give them political cover.”
Now Thune is Senate Majority Leader. And hes responsible for passing President Trumps so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” where the House-passed plan adds nearly $4 trillion to the debt without so much as a fig leaf of fiscal responsibility.
What would the country get in exchange for this new debt? More inflation, and sky-high interest rates making it harder for families to buy a house or car or for businesses to invest. If the government can just keep printing dollars, the money in our paychecks is worth less. And cuts to the social safety net to “pay” for a portion of the tax cuts leave millions hungry and without health care.
The price tag is raising alarm bells across the board, from credit ratings agencies to Elon Musk. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says the math for the bill doesnt add up. “If I vote for the $5 trillion debt, whos left in Washington that cares about the debt?” Paul recently said on CBS. “The GOP will own the debt once they vote for this.”
Trump was quick to attack Pauls break from the ranks, throwing a social media tantrum. Paul “never has any practical or constructive ideas…The people of Kentucky cant stand him,” Trump tweeted.
But Paul isnt alone among his party. Sens. Rick Scott and Ron Johnson – both Republicans, both former business owners – have voiced concern over the bills ballooning costs. At least for the moment, they seem to understand what Washington wants to ignore: Our country cant keep spending more than we bring in.
Currently, the United States spends over a trillion dollars annually just paying interest on its debt. Our credit card bill is bigger than our income, and were barely covering the minimum payment.
In 2000, Americas national debt was $5.5 trillion, equivalent to 55% of the countrys GDP. Today, its over $35 trillion – exceeding 120% of GDP.
Moodys has downgraded the U.S. credit rating, undermining our lucrative standing as the safest country to invest in. The bond market is in chaos. Economists across the spectrum are warning: rising debt, rising interest rates, and Trumps tariffs will slow growth and spike inflation. And the havoc from Trumps reckless agenda is already making it more expensive to buy a house, car, or afford a college education. Even with economic indicators blinking red, Trumps Washington keeps kicking the can down the road and reaching for the national credit card.
The Big Beautiful Bill would have ugly results. Cutting taxes for billionaires, gutting benefits for working families, and exploding the debt doesnt portend a strong future. Perhaps thats why voters are starting to pay attention. The hard-working middle-class families that Trump and congressional Republicans promised to fight for are outraged at a tax plan that will make them poorer just so billionaires can see a tax windfall. And after the Moodys downgrade, a new poll for the Peterson Foundation found that 80% of voters say reducing the debt is an urgent priority.
But Congress isnt listening to them. Nowhere in Trumps plan is there a real effort to tackle the debt. Instead, his team spins fantasy math. Speaker Mike Johnson has claimed the bill reduces the debt, despite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), led by a Republican appointee, projecting a $3.8 trillion increase.
Speaker Johnson also denies benefit cuts, saying people may “choose” to leave Medicaid. But according to that same CBO report, 13.7 million Americans would lose coverage.
And the backdrop? Trumps inflationary tariffs are still hammering families. Prices are spiraling upward, from small businesses on Main Street to major companies like Walmart. Consumers are pulling back spending, eating at home, and buying less. Meanwhile, Trump announced 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum that will raise the price of a car, a dishwasher, and canned goods from Campbells soup to a six-pack.
Congress wont stop this insanity. And working Americans will be poorer, sicker, and hungrier as a result.
The Moodys downgrade was a warning sign that the United States should get its fiscal house in order, but Congress wants to double down on the very policies that got us here. Their bill mortgages Americas future by burying the next generation with mountains of debt while cutting the safety net to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.
This is looting, not leadership. The only beneficiaries would be rich special interests and competitors like China, while the bottom lines of middle-class families and our nation as a whole take an unprecedented hit.
Passing the Big Beautiful Bill will light the fuse on the ticking time bomb of debt. And the American economy will be caught in the blast zone.
Terry Holt, a Republican, is a former Bush-Cheney national spokesperson and former senior adviser to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner.
&
Andrew Bates, a Democrat, was Senior White House Deputy Press Secretary in the Biden-Harris Administration and a top spokesperson on the 2020 Biden campaign.
