A budget scorekeeper for U.S. lawmakers projects that federal debt compared to the size of the economy will reach 78 percent this fiscal year, the highest level in nearly seven decades.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts the debt will grow even as government revenue flattens out in the next few years. Meanwhile, spending on Social Security and Medicare is projected to take a larger share of the pie.

The CBO's report says more of the government's spending will be dedicated to servicing the debt, to the point that interest payments will about equal spending on Social Security in 30 years.  

With files from the Associated Press.

Guests:

Steve Moore, former economic adviser on Donald Trump's campaign team and economist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C.

Brian Riedl, economist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a New York-based libertarian think tank

Seth Hanlon, former special assistant on economic policy to President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017; senior fellow focusing on federal tax and budget policy at the left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress; he tweets at @SethHanlon