Debt Ceiling 2023: Who’s Responsible for the National Debt?

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The national debt has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. 

This year’s debt ceiling standoff is between Democrats seeking to raise the debt ceiling and Republican holdouts — but it hasn’t always been that way. Over the long history of the national debt, both Republicans and Democrats have at various times either defended or attacked the raising of the debt ceiling. In the last 22 years, the federal government has increased the national debt by over $21.7 trillion. During that time, America has had two Republican presidents and two Democratic presidents, leaving many to wonder: whose debt is it, anyway?

The case against Democrats

Fiscal hawks have been saying it for years: the Democratic party is the party of spending. And when it comes to the two Democrats who have held office in the last 20 years, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, that opinion appears to hold true.

When President Obama delivered his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2009, the national debt stood at about $13.6 trillion. Over the following eight years, that amount would increase to $24.06 trillion. Taking office in the middle of the 2008 recession, Obama quickly authorized a nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus bill. Notably, Obama’s landmark legislation, the Affordable Care Act, was a net saving program thanks to its tax-raising initiatives. Over President Obama’s eight years in office, it is estimated that the national debt increased by nearly $10.5 trillion.

Joe Biden, vice president during the Obama administration, would again enter the White House in 2021, assuming the national debt of over $30.7 trillion at that time. Like President Trump before him, President Biden directed the distribution of stimulus checks as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. While Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act reduced the deficit, his $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorized significant government spending. Current estimates suggest that the deficit has increased by $3 trillion during Biden’s two years of presidency.

The case against Republicans

When it comes to raising the national debt, spending is only one part of the equation. Lowering government revenue, of which taxes are a large part, is another way to raise a deficit and force the Treasury to borrow on behalf of the federal government.

In 2001, Bill Clinton handed off the presidency, and the nearly $9.7 trillion national debt, to Republican George W. Bush. The Bush administration instituted tax cuts in both 2001 and 2003, estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to have directly added $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the following decade. The Bush administration also substantially increased defense spending, doubling annual spending between 2001 and 2008. Upon leaving office in 2009, the national debt had increased by $3.9 trillion during the Bush administration.

President Trump assumed office in early 2017, when the national debt stood at just over $24 trillion. Like its Republican predecessor, the Trump administration quickly instituted tax cuts, estimated to cost over $2.7 trillion. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump signed a $2.3 trillion government funding and pandemic relief package. During President Trump’s four years in office, the national debt increased by $6.67 trillion.

Government spending can have a large impact on the personal finances of hundreds of millions of Americans.

A little bit of both

Estimates suggest that over the last four administrations the national debt increased by about $13.5 trillion under Democratic presidents and about $10.57 trillion under Republican presidents. Both parties had big spenders, with presidents Obama and Bush ranking as two of the top five presidents by percentage increase in the national debt.

Please note that how much the national debt grows during a president’s tenure is not an exact measure of their fiscal responsibility. Policies passed under some presidents authorize spending for decades to come. For example, it is estimated that four-fifths of spending on new legislation during the Obama presidency was a result of tax cuts inherited from previous presidents.

While the growth of the national debt under a president is not a perfect measure of their budgeting ability, it can clue Americans in to the fiscal priorities of the two political parties in America. And the last twenty or so years in United States politics appear to show that both Democrats and Republicans are happy to spend on policy.

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