Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) (Getty Images)
(CNS News) — When asked to predict when the federal government will pay off the federal debt for this fiscal year alone, which currently is $3.78 trillion, Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said that getting “the economy moving again” is “key” to paying down the debt.
At the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, CNS News asked Sen. Portman, “So far in fiscal 2020, the federal debt has increased $3.78 trillion. When do you predict the government will pay off the debt it added this year?”
The senator responded, “Oh gosh. My hope is that we get the economy moving again, that’s the key.”
“Get the revenue coming back in,” Portman continued. “And then next year we can start to see more revenue coming in, and start to get the deficit down and therefore the debt.”
The fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. On Sept. 30, 2019, the total federal debt was $22,719,402,000,000. On Aug. 4, 2020, it was $26,503,236,000,000.
The increase totals $3,783,834,000,000.
(Getty Images)
Recently, both Democrats and Republicans have debated a new spending bill on COVID-19 relief. The Democrats plan, proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), is called the HEROES act and totals $3.4 trillion. It was passed by the House of Representatives on May 15, 2020.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced the HEALS act, which totals $1 trillion.
