U.S. federal debt surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product in March, yet the milestone failed to spark urgency in Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the largest Pentagon budget request in history while the Senate advanced a $72 billion immigration enforcement package through reconciliation. Debt hawks hoped the round number would shock politicians into action, but few appeared alarmed.

The ratio climbed from crisis spending, tax cuts unmatched by cuts, and a snowballing interest bill. Net interest payments now exceed the defense budget, and 30-year Treasury yields hit 5.12 percent, the highest since 2007. The Congressional Budget Office projects publicly held debt will reach 175 percent of GDP by 2056. Morgan Stanley's Ellen Zentner bluntly told clients: "We are not" on a sustainable path.

Deficit concern is rising among voters—half of Americans in a March Gallup poll said federal spending worried them a great deal. Yet doing nothing remains easier for politicians than painful tax hikes and spending cuts. Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University calculated the U.S. is in worse shape than Italy once Social Security and Medicare obligations are included. No grown-ups are picking up the problem in Washington.