By Jonathan Nicholson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's national debt -- the accumulated debt from past budget shortfalls -- totaled more than $7 trillion for the first time as of Tuesday, according to a Treasury Department report.
In its daily financial statement released on Wednesday, the Treasury said the U.S. debt subject to a Congressionally set limit totaled $7.015 trillion, up from $6.983 trillion on Friday. The government was closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
While passing the $7 trillion mark itself has little practical significance, not unlike a car's odometer rolling over, it may signal some tough political times ahead for President Bush's administration on fiscal policy.
The government debt ceiling stands only a few hundred billion dollars ahead at $7.384 trillion, and Treasury would need Congress's blessing to borrow beyond that. Treasury officials say they expect the limit to be hit sometime between June and October.
And in this election year, Democrats may also use the $7 trillion figure to assail Bush's tax policy and the federal deficits on his watch. Budget shortfalls are met by borrowing. In 2003, the federal budget saw a record $374.25 billion gap and a larger one is expected this fiscal year.
The last time that debt subject to the limit passed a trillion-dollar milestone was on June 28, 2002, according to Treasury records. That was after Congress agreed to hike the debt cap at the time from $5.950 trillion to $6.400 trillion.
To give some idea of the size of the debt, U.S. g**** domestic product -- the sum of goods and services produced inside the United States -- totaled about $11 trillion at the end of 2003, according to the Commerce Department.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's national debt -- the accumulated debt from past budget shortfalls -- totaled more than $7 trillion for the first time as of Tuesday, according to a Treasury Department report.
In its daily financial statement released on Wednesday, the Treasury said the U.S. debt subject to a Congressionally set limit totaled $7.015 trillion, up from $6.983 trillion on Friday. The government was closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
While passing the $7 trillion mark itself has little practical significance, not unlike a car's odometer rolling over, it may signal some tough political times ahead for President Bush's administration on fiscal policy.
The government debt ceiling stands only a few hundred billion dollars ahead at $7.384 trillion, and Treasury would need Congress's blessing to borrow beyond that. Treasury officials say they expect the limit to be hit sometime between June and October.
And in this election year, Democrats may also use the $7 trillion figure to assail Bush's tax policy and the federal deficits on his watch. Budget shortfalls are met by borrowing. In 2003, the federal budget saw a record $374.25 billion gap and a larger one is expected this fiscal year.
The last time that debt subject to the limit passed a trillion-dollar milestone was on June 28, 2002, according to Treasury records. That was after Congress agreed to hike the debt cap at the time from $5.950 trillion to $6.400 trillion.
To give some idea of the size of the debt, U.S. g**** domestic product -- the sum of goods and services produced inside the United States -- totaled about $11 trillion at the end of 2003, according to the Commerce Department.
