The U.S. would need to cut spending or raise taxes by $827 billion, roughly what it spends on defense, just to keep the national debt burden from doubling by 2054, according to a new report.
A report published Wednesday from think tank Cato Institute finds that to maintain the 98% debt-to-GDP ratio figure that the U.S. hit in 2024, the U.S. would have to enact spending cuts or increase taxes equal to 2.87% of GDP, or about $827 billion. That’s close to the U.S.’s defense budget requests, which totaled $892 billion for fiscal year 2026, and $850 billion in fiscal year 2025.
