President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget warned Tuesday that the federal government’s debt-ridden finances are in an “unsustainable” situation, and said he’d work to tackle the nation’s $20 trillion debt.
“Our gross national debt has increased to almost $20 trillion,” Mick Mulvaney told the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday.
“That number is so large as to defy description,” he said. “I choose to look at it another way: to an ordinary American family, that translates to a credit card bill of $260,000. Families know what that would mean for them. It is time for government to learn the same lesson.”
“I believe, as a matter of principle, that the debt is a problem that must be addressed sooner, rather than later,” Mulvaney added. “I also know that fundamental changes are needed in the way Washington spends and taxes if we truly want a healthy economy.”
“This must include changing our government’s long-term fiscal path – which is unsustainable,” he said.
Mulvaney stressed that he cannot say with precision exactly what policies he might do if he leads OMB. But he said he would be aiming to “get our financial house in order.”
He also stressed that fixing the debt problem is related to improving the U.S. economy.
“For the first time in America’s history, the next generation could be less prosperous than the generation that preceded it,” he said in prepared testimony to the Senate Budget Committee.
“To me, and to the people in this room, that is simply unacceptable. We can turn this economy, and this country around… but it will take tough decisions today in order to avoid impossible ones tomorrow,” he said.
