U.S. Debt Is Near $40 Trillion. The Last Zero Was 1835

The United States is closing in on a symbolic $40 trillion gross national debt, but the claim that the figure has already been officially crossed runs ahead of the latest publicly available congressional daily reading. The Joint Economic Committee’s Daily Debt Monitor lists total debt at $39.588 trillion on July 20, 2026.

In its July update, the committee estimated that debt would reach $40 trillion around October 8 or 9 if the average daily growth rate of the previous three years continued. That was an extrapolation, not a scheduled event. Treasury balances move unevenly as taxes arrive, spending is made, securities mature and new debt is issued.

The headline number also combines two different kinds of federal obligations. Of the July 20 total, about $31.818 trillion was debt held by the public. Roughly $7.771 trillion was intragovernmental debt held by federal trust funds and other government accounts. The distinction matters because the publicly held portion is the part most directly tied to financial markets and outside investors.

That is also why the national debt is not comparable to a household credit-card balance with one payoff date. The Treasury Department regularly auctions bills, notes and bonds. Matured securities are paid, while new securities are issued to finance deficits and refinance part of the existing debt. The government’s debt portfolio is continuously managed rather than waiting for one day when every dollar must be retired at once.

None of that makes the fiscal outlook harmless. The Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.9 trillion federal deficit in fiscal 2026, rising to $3.1 trillion in 2036 under current law. Debt held by the public rises from 101% of GDP in 2026 to 120% in 2036. CBO’s longer-range projections put the ratio at 175% of GDP by 2056.

The Government Accountability Office calls the current path unsustainable. It reported that publicly held debt stood at $31.3 trillion in April 2026, roughly the size of the economy, and that net interest spending in fiscal 2025 exceeded federal spending on national defense. Interest is no longer a distant accounting problem; it is competing with major government priorities now.

The historical comparison with Andrew Jackson is real. Treasury records say Jackson entered office in 1829 with national debt of just over $58 million and made eliminating it a central objective. In 1835 the debt was extinguished. Treasury describes it as the first and only time in U.S. history that the national debt was eliminated.

But that episode does not prove that zero debt is the necessary benchmark for modern fiscal health. The U.S. economy, financial system and role of Treasury securities have changed beyond recognition since the 1830s. Nor is it accurate to turn current projections into a claim that economists know the debt can “never” reach zero. CBO explicitly warns that long-term budget outcomes are uncertain and can change substantially with legislation, policy and economic conditions.

The immediate question for Washington is therefore less dramatic and more difficult: can elected officials narrow persistent deficits before rising interest costs claim an even larger share of federal resources? The approach of $40 trillion is a milestone. The trajectory behind it is the bigger story.