John Bolton Says Federal Budget Deficit Has National Security Implications

National Security Adviser John Bolton recently said that the U.S. budget deficit, at its current level, has national security implications, Defense News reported Friday.

Speaking at a recent event hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Institute, Bolton also commented that “when your national debt gets to the level that ours is, that it constitutes an existential threat to the society.”

Bolton went on to say that he expected reductions in discretionary spending but none in mandatory expenditures.

Last month, the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget announced via a joint statement that, in fiscal 2018, the country had incurred a budget deficit worth $779B, or 3.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The FY 2018 deficit, driven in part by tax cuts, is the highest in six years.