{
  "id": 2184392,
  "title": "Three things to know about the $40 trillion federal debt",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/three-things-to-know-about-the-40-trillion-federal-debt",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-20T16:50:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "NPR",
    "slug": "npr",
    "url": "https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/nx-s1-5939473/40-trillion-federal-debt"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The U.S. federal debt hit a record $40 trillion this week. The debt has doubled since 2017, and just paying interest on the accumulated debt now costs the government more than $1 trillion a year.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}