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As the U.S. national debt reaches a new historical high, Congress is preparing for a new round of the "federal funding battle."

The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported on Tuesday that the total public debt of the U.S. federal government has reached $34 trillion for the first time. At this time, members of Congress are preparing for a new round of showdowns around the new fiscal year budget in the coming weeks.

According to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as of last Friday afternoon, the total amount of unpaid public debt increased from $33.911 trillion on Thursday to $34.001 trillion. At the same time, the debt included in the federal debt ceiling increased from $33.794 trillion to $33.89 trillion. This "restricted debt" category does not include the undeclared discounts of Treasury bills and zero-coupon bonds, the debt issued by federal financing banks, and the guaranteed debt of certain other agencies.

Shortly before this milestone event, the total U.S. federal debt had just broken through the $33 trillion mark in September, due to the decline in tax revenue and the increase in federal spending leading to an increase in the federal deficit.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the fiscal watchdog organization "Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget" (CRFB), called the $34 trillion national debt a "truly depressing achievement" and attributed it to the unwillingness of political leaders to make difficult fiscal choices.

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MacGuineas said in a statement: "We still hope that policymakers will take further measures to reduce our borrowing through increasing taxes, reducing spending, or establishing a fiscal committee, or ideally through all of the above measures."

In June last year, according to the outlook of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the scale of U.S. national debt is expected to double in the next 30 years. By the end of 2022, the U.S. national debt accounted for about 97% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This figure is expected to soar to a record 181% by the end of 2053.

What's worse, since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, the soaring interest rates have made the cost of repaying the national debt more expensive. Data from the CRFB shows that interest payments on the national debt are expected to be the fastest-growing part of the federal budget in the next 30 years.

As the U.S. national debt reaches a historical high, the federal government is facing another imminent shutdown crisis. Members of Congress will return to Washington next week to resolve the government spending issues left over from last September before the deadlines of January 19 and February 2.

In November last year, the U.S. Congress passed a temporary spending bill to avoid a federal government shutdown, giving lawmakers more than two months to play for the fiscal budget for the new year.The temporary spending bill includes extending government funding support for various departments such as transportation, housing, and energy until January 19, 2024; funding support for eight other spending bills (including defense, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and other government agencies) is extended until February 2. However, the bill does not address the highly anticipated assistance appropriations for Ukraine and Israel, nor does it include funding for border security.

Currently, Republicans are demanding that discretionary spending for the fiscal year 2024 be reduced below the cap agreed upon last June. At the same time, lawmakers also hope to pass emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel, possibly with additional unrelated clauses for U.S. border security.

If the two parties fail to reach a consensus on the budget bill before the deadline, the United States could once again face a shutdown crisis. However, as the focus quickly shifts to the November presidential and congressional elections, reaching a compromise may become even more difficult.