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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Claims America Can Absolutely Afford Two Wars At Once

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Claims America Can Absolutely Afford Two Wars At Once

Yellen

Janet Yellen, Sept. 12, 2018. Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen doesn’t seem too worried about America’s $33 trillion gross federal debt. According to Yellen, the country can take on more expenses, especially when injecting itself into other countries’ military conflicts. The Treasury Secretary recently remarked that the U.S. can “certainly” afford to support Israel and Ukraine with aid.

Yellen told Sky News the U.S. can “certainly” afford to support wars on two fronts, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas threatens stability in the Middle East and the U.S. continues to back Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

But she did admit that it was too early to understand the economic ramifications of the latest conflict, with oil and natural gas prices remaining unstable, Sky News reported.

“We do need to come up with funds, both for Israel and for Ukraine. This is a priority,” Yellen said.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, President Joe Biden’s administration and the U.S. Congress have allocated over $75 billion in aid to Ukraine, covering humanitarian, financial, and military assistance, as reported by German research institute Kiel Institute for the World Economy. This amount does not encompass all U.S. spending related to the war, including aid to allies.

Israel already receives $3.8 billion annually from the U.S., under a 10-year agreement that began in 2016, Reuters reported. And on Oct. 17, it was revealed Biden may consider a supplemental request of about $100 billion from Congress that would include defense aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, sources told Reuters.

The national debt, which equals the amount of money borrowed by the federal government to cover operating expenses, recently reached a historic milestone by passing $33 trillion for the first time. According to the Treasury Department, tax cuts, stimulus programs, and decreased tax revenue as a result of high unemployment during the covid-19 pandemic were factors in pushing the debt to this amount, CNBC reported.

Janet Yellen attends a Brookings discussion, Sept. 12, 2018. Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images