With the U.S. government shutdown entering its third week, the gross national debt topped $38 trillion on Wednesday, setting a record and highlighting the rapid rise in the nation’s debt. According to Yahoo Finance, this marks the quickest $1 trillion increase in U.S. debt, apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the U.S. reaching $37 trillion as recently as August.According to the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model’s Kent Smetters, as reported by The Associated Press and quoted on the ab ...