The national debt has hit $9 trillion for the first time Thursday. The Treasury Department, which issues a daily accounting report of the debt, said the debt was $9 trillion on Tuesday, up from $8.996 trillion on Monday.
Congress passed and President Bush signed into law an increase in the government's borrowing ceiling to $9.815 trillion. It was the fifth debt-limit increase since Bush took office in January 2001. Those increases have totaled $3.865 trillion.
The administration contends the rising debt reflects such factors as slow economic growth during the 2001 recession, the Sept. 11 attacks and the cost of the war on terrorism.
Democrats place much of the blame on Bush's first-term tax cuts, which they say are geared toward to wealthy.
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