Let's talk about the national debt, because the numbers have gotten so large that it's easy to lose perspective on what's actually happening.
When President Trump took office for his first term in January 2017, the national debt stood at $19.9 trillion. When he left in January 2021, it was $27.8 trillion. That's roughly $7.8 trillion added in four years. Yes, a significant portion of that was COVID-related spending — but the pre-COVID deficit was already climbing sharply thanks to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which the CBO estimated would add $1.9 trillion to the deficit over a decade.
Now look at the second term. The national debt has crossed $39 trillion and is approaching 101% of GDP — a level not seen since World War II. The "One Big, Beautiful Bill" signed into law has been projected by the CBO to increase the deficit by an additional $4.7 trillion between 2026 and 2035. Combined with higher tariffs and lower immigration rates (which reduce tax revenue), the CBO has revised its ten-year cumulative deficit projection upward by $1.4 trillion compared to just a year ago.
The trajectory is staggering. CBO projects the deficit will reach $1.9 trillion this year and swell to $3.1 trillion annually by 2036. Debt held by the public is projected to rise from 101% of GDP to 120% by 2036 — eclipsing the previous all-time record of 106% set after we won World War II. Over 30 years, the CBO's extended baseline shows debt rising to 175% of GDP.
And yet, this is the administration that claims to represent fiscal conservatism.
We're not singling out one party here to be partisan. Democrats have been equally irresponsible — proposing new programs without credible funding mechanisms, expanding entitlements without reform, and treating the national credit card like it has no limit. This is a bipartisan failure decades in the making.
But the hypocrisy of running up the largest deficits in American history while branding yourself as the party of fiscal responsibility needs to be called out. You don't get to add $12 trillion to the national debt across two terms and then lecture anyone about spending discipline.
Interest payments on the debt now exceed $1 trillion per year — more than we spend on defense, more than Medicare, more than any single program in the federal budget. That's money we're paying just to service past borrowing. It doesn't build a single road, fund a single school, or protect a single soldier. And as rates stay elevated, that number only grows.
The Common Sense Party believes the budget must balance. Not in theory. Not in projections that assume 4% GDP growth forever. Actually balance. We support rescission authority to cut wasteful spending line by line. We support a line-item veto amendment so presidents can strike pork without vetoing entire bills. And we support a balanced budget amendment because neither party has demonstrated the discipline to do it voluntarily.
The math doesn't care about your party affiliation. And right now, the math is screaming.
Read our full fiscal policy position: commonsenseforamerica.org/platform/fiscal-responsibility