Fact Check: Did Treasury Department declare the US government insolvent?
WASHINGTON, DC: A rumor has been spreading on social media platforms that the United States Department of the Treasury has declared the US government insolvent, following the department's publication of its financial statements this month. The claim has sparked speculation among many, who question its authenticity. Let us fact-check it.
Claim: Department of Treasury declared the government insolvent
After the department published financial statements on March 16, 2026, for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, a rumor spread that the reports had supposedly announced that the government is insolvent, meaning it had lost its ability to repay its debts.
The claim was later amplified on various social media platforms such as Facebook, X, and Threads. One post even lamented that no media outlet was reporting the claim.
The rumor has sparked confusion among many, who are questioning whether the claim is authentic.
Fact Check: False, no evidence that government is unable to meet its debt obligations
The claim stemmed from an opinion piece in Fortune magazine on March 23, 2026, in which the article was tagged as 'commentary' on the publication's website; the piece also appeared on Yahoo Finance.
The only indication that the piece was opinion rather than fact appeared at the very bottom of the article.
Steve Hanke, the article’s author and an economist at Johns Hopkins University, asserted that the Treasury had "declared the US insolvent," citing figures from the Treasury's financial report and statements.
A review of the documents cited by Hanke indicated that the assertion that the Treasury declared the government insolvent may in fact have been hyperbole, perhaps explaining the media silence.
Although there have been multiple warnings from the Treasury and Congress’s Government Accountability Office describing the government’s current fiscal path as 'unsustainable,' there is no evidence to suggest that the United States is unable to meet its debt obligations at this time. Therefore, the claim is false.
Oil shock and Iran blockade push yields higher
The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.4% as of this writing, a significant increase from 3.96% on February 27, 2026, the day before Israel and the United States attacked Iran.
Investor worries about inflation following Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that transports roughly 20% of the world's oil supply, were reflected in the increase.
Additionally, crude prices increased from $72.48 on February 27 to over $100 per barrel.
