evidence: Jump to insightThe U.S. is currently above its debt limit of $31.4 trillion, meaning that when the current suspension of the limit expires in 2025, Congress will need to either increase the limit or suspend it again. [...] From the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency in 2017 to its end in 2021, the national debt increased by 40.43%, about $8.18 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. It rose the most from September 2019 to September 2020, when Trump spent $3.6 trillion on coronavirus pandemic relief. [...] The current debt limit is $31.4 trillion, and national debt is about $34.6 trillion, meaning the government is above the debt limit. The government has surpassed the debt limit 78 times since 1960. To avoid catastrophe, Congress votes to either raise the limit, as it did in 2021, or suspend the limit, as it did in 2023. The suspension is in effect until 2025, then Congress will have to decide on further action.