Group calls on presidential candidates to release debt plans before election

A federal budget watchdog called on both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to present voters with their plans to address the national debt.

The U.S. is holding $35.67 trillion in debt, according to the U.S. Treasury. Growing budget deficits over the past two decades have significantly increased the federal government's debt burden. Harris and Trump have yet to release specific plans to address those issues.

The board for the Committee for A Responsible Federal Budget, a nonprofit group, called on both candidates to release plans before the Nov. 5 election. In letter to both candidates, the board asked for the national debt issue to be a priority.

"We are asking you to make the critical issue of our skyrocketing national debt one of your top policy priorities as you seek the presidency," board members wrote in the letter. "Our mounting debt is a bipartisan problem, and whoever wins the presidency should confront this challenge within their term."

The board noted that U.S. publicly held debt will soon surpass the entire size of the U.S. economy. That debt is projected to exceed its previous record, 106% of gross domestic product, in 2027. At a projected cost of $892 billion this year, the federal government already spends more on interest on the debt than on both national defense and all federal spending on children, the group said.

"Unfortunately, high and rising debt carries significant repercussions for all Americans, including slower economic growth and higher interest rates. Rising debt also limits our ability to respond to unexpected emergencies like natural disasters and pandemics, and it is a national security threat as well," the letter said. "American voters deserve to hear your plans for improving our fiscal trajectory."

Credit rating agency Moody's issued a similar warning on Wednesday.

"The incoming administration will face a deteriorating U.S. fiscal outlook, as declining debt affordability will gradually weaken U.S. fiscal strength," according to the report. "In the absence of policy measures that can curb these trends and help limit fiscal deficits, deteriorating fiscal strength will increasingly weigh on the U.S. sovereign credit profile."

In February, a U.S Government Accountability Office report highlighted the challenges. And a Congressional Budget Office report from that month found federal spending is projected to remain unsustainable for decades to come.