U.S. national debt reached record $37 trillion.

The national debt eclipsed this new milestone years sooner than pre-pandemic projections.

The Congressional Budget Office’s January 2020 projections predicted the U.S. reaching the milestone after fiscal year 2030.

But the debt grew faster than expected as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the U.S. economy and the Trump and Biden administrations borrowed heavily to stabilise the national economy.