Q&A: Raise the Volume, Lower the Debt

With U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley Q: Why do you keep raising the volume in Washington about the nation’s debt? A: America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence this year on the Fourth of July. We are blessed to live in the land of opportunity and have an obligation to pass on the promise of prosperity for generations to come. Just consider, in 1776 a 33-year-old was tasked with writing what became our nation’s founding charter. The Declaration of Independence launched the American experiment in self-government; putting power in the people’s hands. Thomas Jefferson became our nation’s third president and prioritized fiscal discipline. He viewed debt as a threat to the American experiment, endangering civic responsibility and government stability. This Founding Father observed “public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared.” If Thomas Jefferson were to read the latest report on the nation’s debt, he surely would roll in his grave. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is the independent scorekeeper for Congress, crunching numbers to determine how policies will impact the federal budget. Its most recent analysis shows how the nation’s finances are on an unsustainable track. Although there’s a glimmer of good news the Trump administration and Republican-led Congress have worked to rein in bloated Biden era spending, our efforts are overshadowed by the sea of red ink from the ballooning cost of entitlement programs. Whereas the Biden administration’s poorly named Inflation Reduction Act cranked the spending spigot wide open, Congress worked with the Trump administration to strengthen fiscal integrity measures for Medicaid to ensure the program serves vulnerable populations the program was designed to serve. I’m also working to root out fraud and wasteful spending. For example, sophisticated fraud schemes in Minnesota and elsewhere that siphon taxpayer dollars away from kids with autism, the elderly and small businesses put critical government services at risk, undermine the public trust and fuel even more deficit spending. Q: What concerns you the most about the national debt? A: That Washington won’t stop digging a bigger hole. As a senior member of the Senate Budget Committee, I’ve led efforts to restore fiscal sanity to the federal budget to spare the American people from inflation and the crippling debt burden that comes from overspending. I often say to get out of the fiscal hole we’ve dug ourselves into, we must stop digging. If Washington’s gravy train continues down these tracks, net interest payments will crowd out spending on national defense, infrastructure and services for the American people. In fiscal year 2026, net interest payments are on path to reach $1 trillion and the federal budget deficit will reach $1.9 trillion. The CBO projects within 10 years net interest payments will double to $2.1 trillion and the annual deficit will careen beyond $3 trillion. While revenues are expected to grow from 17.2% to 17.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), that’s no match for federal spending that is on pace to increase to 24.4% of GDP, an unprecedented level of spending in peacetime. That would put the federal debt at 120% of GDP in a decade, shattering the World War II era record of 106.1%, and is projected to continue to grow even higher. Iowans are fed up with the fiscal mess. I’ll continue pushing to restore regular budget order and stop government shutdowns once and for all. In February, I started my 46th consecutive year holding my annual 99 county meetings to hear directly from Iowans. At nearly every meeting, I field a question about the national debt, including from young people who will shoulder the debt burden over their lifetime. Washington can’t borrow our way to prosperity. In September 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to James Madison asking if one generation has the right to bind another generation to its debt. I’ve long argued that current generations should not live high on the hog and leave the bill to our children and grandchildren. Staying silent on the debt and turning a blind eye to deficit spending put America’s prosperity in peril for posterity. I’ll continue raising the volume in Washington and work to rein in reckless spending, restore fiscal discipline and advance America’s promise of opportunity for our kids and grandkids.