Just a few years ago, Washington felt more comfortable pushing for massive spending programs financed by the government and fueled by cheap borrowing costs. But that era is now over.

Low interest rates at the start of the 2020s encouraged liberal lawmakers to push for sweeping spending programs such as the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and then-President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Low interest rates made some see the government as simply able to finance these spending plans, but now, as rates rise, the government is spending more just to service its existing debt, making the case for more borrowing far more challenging.