ICYMI: Rep. Lloyd Smucker Discusses the National Debt Crisis on ‘Keep Faith America’ Podcast with Host Former Gov. John Kasich

LANCASTER – Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) joined John Kasich, former House Budget Committee Chairman and Governor of Ohio, on his podcast, ‘Keep Faith America,’ to discuss the growing national debt and what Congress is doing to fix our fiscal trajectory.

America’s national debt surpassed $37 trillion in August and $38 trillion in October. In 2025, government spending grew far faster than revenue and today our debt is climbing at a dangerous pace that we simply cannot afford. 

On Rep. Smucker’s background:

"I was born old order Amish, number 10 of 12 kids. I was the first in my family to attend high school…I had to pay my own tuition…so I hung dry wall at night to pay my way through high school… I [became] a business owner at 17 years old operating out of a spare bedroom in my parent’s home… I went to college at night while operating a business during the day…I was learning and putting it into practice every day.”

…

“America had provided me with the opportunity to live the American dream, so I want to be sure that opportunity continues to exist for my kids, my grandkids….for future generations.”

On Republican efforts to improve our economy:

“We’re making some great progress. I think there is a real debate in the country about what America should look like. It had been for years going in a direction that I didn’t think would have a good outcome… we’re changing that over the past year.”

On the national debt:

“This is an issue that I spend a lot of time thinking about, trying to solve. And in fact, it’s my mission. If one day I leave Congress and I will have done something to help change the fiscal trajectory and put the country in a better spot as a result of that then I’d feel like job accomplished.”

On the threat of our national debt:

“…a real threat, not only to the standard of living for Americans but to the country itself…history is full of countries and empires that have dominated—sometimes for centuries—and then had fallen off, had declined over a period of time or perhaps collapsed suddenly…a common thread is poor fiscal policy—taking on too much debt.”

“[The debt has] already impacted us. You see inflation, interest rates are higher because of the debt we’re taking on, it is already impacting every American….and will continue to impact if we don’t change course.”

On spending:

“This fiscal year… we took in $5 trillion in taxes. We spent $7 trillion…a $2 trillion deficit and of course those deficits have accumulated overtime...and ever since…and now they’re $38 trillion. It’s projected to continue to grow.”

“We need to have a real discussion…about what Americans expect from their government and then what they’re willing to pay for that.”

On congressional efforts to care about the debt:

“As Vice Chair of the Budget Committee…we led a group of about 30 Republicans in the House who insisted that we find savings to offset some of the lost revenue that we would be getting by extending the current tax rates… we were able to find about $1.6 trillion [in savings]. That would not have happened had you not had a group of about 30 of us pushing for this… that’s a nucleus of folks who are very, very concerned [about the debt].”

On the impact of the debt on everyday Americans:

“[American people] need to understand more about how the debt is currently impacting their daily lives and how that is going to get worse if we don’t solve it.”

“I want the American people to start to call their Congressperson and say: why aren’t you doing something about the debt.”

On future progress:

“I’m really hoping we’re on the cusp of really making some positive strides here to get this moving in the right direction.”

Watch the full interview HERE. 

Rep. Lloyd Smucker currently serves as Vice Chairman of the House Budget Committee and is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee.