The Republicans’ Debt Delusion

If you listen to how Republicans in Washington talk about federal spending these days, you might imagine that we have entered an era of budget restraint. 

“Fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in February. “And we have a $36 trillion federal debt. We have a giant deficit that we’re contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit card.” President Donald Trump has said much the same, suggesting that his administration aims to balance the federal budget before his term is out. Elon Musk has called the growth of federal debt “terrifying,” and said “if this continues, the country will go, become de facto bankrupt.” All of them, and many other Republicans in D.C., have argued that this is why the administration and Congress have made fiscal reform a priority, and why it’s worth doing despite the political cost.