Whose debt is it anyway? Partisan claims fly as lawmakers face off over the debt ceiling

Republicans and Democrats are facing off over the debt limit, firing off competing claims about who is responsible as the United States moves closer toward default for the first time in history. Republicans are pushing Democrats to act alone in addressing the debt ceiling, claiming the need to borrow more money is a result of Democrats' policies.

But responsibility for the debt is very much bipartisan.

"The current and growing debt is the product of all of the fiscal decisions that we have made as a country. More recent decisions are having a greater impact on that debt like the American Rescue Plan, the COVID response packages that were passed last year or the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," said Shai Akabas of the Bipartisan Policy Center. "Those are all impacting the amount of debt that we take on right now."