What was the total U.S. national debt on January 1, 2025 and on November 24, 2025?

1. What the official record shows for early January 2025

Congressional and Treasury‑linked reporting say that on January 2, 2025 the statutory debt limit was reinstated at about $36.1 trillion because the suspension ended and the limit was set equal to debt outstanding on the prior day; CBO and related CRS summaries repeat that figure as the amount of debt outstanding when the limit was reinstated ^{[1] [4] [5]}. Several policy groups noted that redemption of a trust fund security around that time slightly lowered outstanding debt and forestalled a binding “debt issuance suspension period” for a few weeks ^[1].

2. How to read the late‑November 2025 totals reported in public data

The Treasury’s “Debt to the Penny” dataset and the Treasury Fiscal Data historical tables publish daily totals through November 24, 2025; those datasets are the authoritative daily series referenced by journalists and congressional offices ^{[3] [6]}. By early November 2025 the Joint Economic Committee and other trackers were reporting totals around $38.09 trillion (reported as of November 6, 2025) and multiple outlets observed the national debt crossed the $38 trillion mark in October 2025 ^{[2] [7]}. Other public trackers give similar late‑November figures in the high $37–low $38 trillion range using the Treasury daily data ^{[8] [9]}.

3. Why you see slightly different numbers across sources

Daily totals in the Treasury dataset are precise to the dollar and updated for each business day; policy reports and news outlets summarize or round those figures ^[3]. Some reports cite “debt held by the public” separately from “intragovernmental holdings” and then add them; rounding or timing (end‑of‑day business vs. calendar dates) explains small differences among $36.1T, $36.104T, $37.xT or $38.xT values cited in various pieces ^{[1] [10] [11]}. Analysts also reference snapshots (e.g., reinstated debt limit on Jan 2) versus trend summaries (monthly or year‑to‑date increases) so headline numbers can vary by source purpose ^{[4] [12]}.

4. What changed between January 2025 and November 24, 2025

Multiple sources document rapid borrowing in 2025: CBO and budget groups measured large FY‑2025 deficits and noted cumulative borrowing increased debt by roughly trillions over the year (CBO’s January monthly review and later Joint Economic Committee reporting show the scale of the increase) ^{[4] [2]}. News and data projects reported the national debt crossed $37 trillion in mid‑2025 and $38 trillion in October–November 2025, consistent with Treasury daily series increases shown through November 24, 2025 ^{[7] [2] [3]}.

5. Caveats, sourcing and how to get a precise day‑to‑day figure

If you need the exact dollar amounts on January 1, 2025 and November 24, 2025, the Treasury’s Debt to the Penny daily table is the authoritative source; the Fiscal Data pages and “Historical Debt Outstanding” provide downloadable day‑by‑day numbers ^{[3] [6]}. Public summaries (CBO, CRS, JEC) are reliable for context but often round or cite the reinstated statutory ceiling ($36.1T) rather than the Treasury‑to‑the‑dollar reading for a specific calendar date ^{[1] [4] [2]}. Available sources do not present a single sentence that lists both exact day‑specific totals for Jan 1 and Nov 24, 2025 side‑by‑side — you must extract the Jan. 1/2 snapshot from CBO/CRS reporting and the Nov. 24 number from the Treasury daily dataset ^{[1] [3]}.

6. Bottom line for readers

Use the Treasury “Debt to the Penny” daily file for exact dollar‑for‑dollar values on any calendar date ^[3]. For quick context: the reinstated debt limit / debt snapshot in early January 2025 was about $36.1 trillion (the statutory ceiling equaled outstanding debt then) and by late November 2025 public trackers and Treasury data place total federal debt in the high‑$37 to low‑$38 trillion range, with multiple policy reports citing roughly $38.09 trillion in early November ^{[1] [2] [3]}.