The debt of United States government has risen above $34 trillion for the first time, just weeks before congress is set to on new federal budget plans.

On December 29, the Treasury Department announced that the “total public debt outstanding” had reached $34.001 trillion, which represents the total amount of oustanding borrowing by the federal government of United States on record.

The fiscal watchdog group Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s president, Maya MacGuineas, refered to the record number as “s truly depressing achievement.”

Republicans and Democrats are increasingly at odds over the nation’s growing debt, which has exacerbated budgetary standoffs that occassionally threaten to shutdown the government.

The Senate passed a stopgap funding bill in order to prevent a government shutdown in November, and now lawmakers in Washington have deadlines for passing permanent department budgets in January and February.

The amount of debt that is subject to the debt ceiling increased to $33.89 trillion.

This debt ceiling restricts the amount of money the government may borrow and frequently serves as a pretext for political bluster.

Bipartisan in its advocacy of fiscal prudence, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in the United States pointed out that the US government’s $2 billion daily expenditure on debt interest payments alone jeopardizes the country’s economic future.

This is serious.