Republican Balanced-Budget Aim Clashes With Fiscal Realities

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared his intent to put the US “on a path to a balanced budget” within 10 years, a goal that runs headlong into stark political and fiscal realities.

With the nation’s debt load having more than doubled in 11 years, to over $31 trillion, it’s an idea that enjoys public support. But balancing the budget is practically impossible without touching Social Security and Medicare — which both parties made clear during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech they wouldn’t threaten — or raising taxes, former officials and economists warn.