The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, setting a new record.

An obscure bookkeeping matter has become the latest flashpoint in Congress as Democrats accuse Republicans of violating Senate norms.

The national debt is slated to rise by $23.9 trillion over the next decade, a sum that does not include trillions of dollars in additional tax cuts being championed by President-elect Donald Trump.

(CNN) - The US budget deficit reached nearly $1 trillion for the entire 2019 fiscal year, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Friday. The nation's dimming fiscal picture runs counter to campaign pledges by President Donald Trump not only to shrink the budget deficit but also to eliminate the country's debt, which now stands at $23 trillion. Interest on debt is the fastest growing category of the federal budget. In September, the government reported that the federal deficit briefly swelled to more than $1 trillion ahead of quarterly tax payment deadlines. The Congressional Budget Office had estimated the 2019 deficit would be $960 billion and has predicted it would swell to $1 trillion in 2020.