The total national debt in the United States is set to hit the $20 trillion mark around the time President Barack Obama leaves office in 2017.
Obama on Monday signed a two-year budget deal with congressional Republicans, which averts a potential government shutdown over the nation’s debt limit.
The agreement will suspend the debt ceiling until March 16, 2017 and allow the Treasury Department to borrow another $1.5 trillion, according to The Washington Times.
That would add to the current national debt of more than $18.15 trillion, raising the red ink to about $20 trillion.
When Obama took office in January 2009, the national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. That means the debt will nearly have doubled by the time he leaves the White House in January 2017.