Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both plan to boost spending. How would that affect the federal debt?
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Study: US Debt Would Increase Under Trump, Harris
Above: A Metrobus approaches a bus shelter at 18th and K St's NW where a poster and electronic billboard displays the current US national debt per person on Aug. 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Jemal Countess/Stringer/Peter G. Peterson Foundation/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
The Facts
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a study on Monday predicting that both former Pres. Donald Trump and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris' policy proposals would increase US national debt.
If fully implemented, the Committee estimates Trump's campaign pledges would raise the national debt by $7.5T while Harris' would add $3.5T over a ten-year period. Currently, federal debt sits at over $35T.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Multiple analyses have reached the same opinion that Harris' policy proposals will do a better job of handling America's debt than Trump's. While there's a chance that a Harris administration would prevent national debt from growing at all, Trump risks running up a $15T bill if his pro-tariff anti-tax agenda doesn't go to plan.
Republican narrative
Harris' policy pledges are nothing but vacuous buzzwords intended to hide her debt-inducing agenda. Democratic plans to raid the wallets of hard-working Americans will barely put a dent in the national deficit, while calls for taxing unrealized capital gains and everyday price controls are economically unviable. Harris cannot be trusted to manage the American economy.
Narrative C
Policy deficit estimates are extremely inaccurate, lacking any credible certainty over the future. These predictions should not be treated seriously, with the Committee's massive range of potential estimates unwieldy and practically useless.