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What is the total U.S. national debt outstanding as of November 2025?
Executive summary
As of early to mid-November 2025, multiple authoritative trackers put the U.S. gross national debt at about $38 trillion: the U.S. Treasury’s “Debt to the Penny” dataset and aggregations are reporting figures near $38.0 trillion (see Treasury and Fiscal Service datasets) and several budget watchdogs and news outlets report the gross national debt has reached $38.0–38.09 trillion [1] [2] [3] [4]. Alternative real‑time counters show slightly lower time‑stamped totals (for example, a running clock showing about $37.89 trillion on Nov. 13, 2025), reflecting timing and update differences among sources [5].
1. What the principal official dataset shows
The U.S. Department of the Treasury publishes daily totals in the “Debt to the Penny” dataset; the dataset was updated through Nov. 13, 2025 and is the primary official source for Total Public Debt Outstanding (TPDO) — this dataset underlies the commonly cited ~$38 trillion figure [1]. Wikipedia’s summarization of Treasury reporting likewise lists “about $38 trillion” as of Nov. 10–11, 2025, citing the Treasury daily totals [2].
2. How independent trackers and analysts frame the number
Budget groups and fiscal analysts — including the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Joint Economic Committee — have announced gross national debt milestones of $37 trillion in August 2025 and $38 trillion by November 2025, with the CRFB explicitly saying Treasury reported gross debt reached $38 trillion and the JEC posting a $38.09 trillion figure on Nov. 5, 2025 [6] [4] [3]. These organizations use Treasury data or Treasury‑based aggregations when reporting milestones [4] [3].
3. Why you see slightly different numbers (timing, scope, rounding)
Different outlets publish slightly different totals because of update timing, rounding conventions, and whether they show “debt held by the public,” “intragovernmental holdings,” or the gross sum (TPDO). Real‑time debt clocks (e.g., usdebtclock.org or independent counters) display continuously updating estimates and may show a figure near $37.89 trillion on Nov. 13, 2025, while Treasury’s end‑of‑business‑day dataset and some press releases cite $38.09 trillion as of Nov. 5–10, 2025 [5] [1] [3]. Treasury’s dataset is updated daily and is the basis for the gross‑debt totals reported by other organizations [1].
4. Composition matters: public debt vs. intragovernmental holdings
The headline “$38 trillion” is gross national debt: it combines debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings (trust funds, etc.). Sources note that, for example, debt held by the public was around $30.1 trillion and intragovernmental debt roughly $7.3 trillion as of early September 2025 — summing to a roughly $37.4 trillion total then, with subsequent borrowing pushing the gross total higher by autumn 2025 [7]. Analysts frequently emphasize the split because “debt held by the public” better reflects market exposure, while intragovernmental holdings represent accounting claims within the federal government [7].
5. Fiscal context and short-term drivers of the increase
Several organizations point to FY2025 deficits and policy actions as drivers of the step‑up in debt: the rolling 12‑month deficit was reported at about $1.74 trillion (Nov. 2024–Oct. 2025), and FY2025 borrowing was estimated near $1.8 trillion by Treasury/analysts — high deficits and a raised debt limit combined with delayed borrowing while the limit was at risk helped accelerate gross debt toward the $38 trillion mark [8] [9] [4]. The CRFB and other groups also link higher interest costs and continued deficits to the net increase in gross debt [4] [8].
6. Plausible short caveats and disagreements among sources
Different organizations emphasize different implications: watchdogs such as the CRFB stress immediate fiscal risk and rising interest costs, while some reporting focuses on milestone symbolism (e.g., “first time” headlines). Exact numeric disagreement is narrow — generally in the tens to hundreds of billions — and stems from whether the snapshot is end‑of‑business‑day Treasury data, a press release date, or a continuously updating counter [4] [5] [1]. Available sources do not mention any single universally agreed “official minute‑by‑minute” number beyond the Treasury daily dataset [1].
7. Bottom line for readers who want the current figure
If you need one authoritative reference, cite the U.S. Treasury “Debt to the Penny” daily TPDO table; as of the November 2025 entries and related reporting, gross national debt is widely reported around $38.0 trillion (with specific postings of $38.09 trillion in early November and rolling counters near $37.89 trillion on Nov. 13) — see Treasury/Fiscal Service data and corroborating budget‑watch groups [1] [3] [5] [4].