The U.S. federal government’s total national debt hit $34 trillion for the first time, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday, as members of Congress braced for a new round of disputes over federal funding in the coming weeks.

A report from the Treasury Department on Friday showed that the total national debt rose to $34.001 trillion from $33.911 billion on Thursday.

The debt, which counts toward the national debt ceiling, rose to $33.89 trillion on Friday from $33.794 trillion on Thursday. This category of “restricted debt” excludes unamortized discount Treasuries and zero-coupon bonds, debt issued by the Federal Reserve Bank, and debt guaranteed by certain other institutions.

The most recent limit for the federal debt was reached as recently as September, when it reached $33 trillion amid a widening federal budget deficit caused by falling tax revenues and rising federal spending.

Congress is preparing for new disputes over government spending

Congress will return to Washington next week to discuss Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 deadlines to hold government spending through September, amid Republican demands to cut discretionary spending for fiscal year 2024 below the limits agreed in June.

Lawmakers also hope to approve emergency aid to Ukraine and Israel, possibly along with unrelated US border security provisions.

Failure to pass a dozen spending bills for fiscal year 2024 will send Washington agencies into shutdown mode.

Achieving a compromise may be even more difficult with November’s presidential and parliamentary elections fast approaching.

Record US debt, “really depressing figures”

Maya McGuiness, chairwoman of the Committee on a Responsible Federal Budget, a financial watchdog group, called the $34 trillion federal debt figure “really depressing,” citing the reluctance of political leaders to make tough fiscal decisions.

“We continue to hope that policymakers will take further steps to reduce our borrowing by raising taxes, cutting spending or creating a tax commission — or ideally, doing all of these,” he said. McGuiness said in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Michael Kikukawa said the increase in debt was due to “debt seepage” caused by the Republican tax cuts passed in 2017, which benefited corporations and wealthy Americans.

“Republicans in Congress want to double down on MAGAnomics, handing over $3 trillion to the wealthy while making hard-working Americans pay for it by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicare,” Kikukawa charged.

He added that Biden plans to reduce the US deficit by $2.5 trillion over 10 years by raising taxes on large corporations and wealthy Americans and cutting spending on pharmaceuticals and tax breaks for oil companies.

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