Government debt has eclipsed $40 trillion, passing yet another staggering benchmark for red ink, according to the Treasury Department.

The total U.S. IOU hit $40.05 trillion as of Tuesday, some four and a half years after topping $30 trillion. Years of escalating budget deficits, pushed higher by stimulus funding during the Covid pandemic, have seen the public share of the debt near 100%.

In the most recent monthly accounting of U.S. finances, Treasury reported a $432.3 billion deficit in July, the highest monthly total since March 2021. The year-to-date shortfall is nearing $1.8 trillion, higher than the same period a year ago.

Ten years ago, the debt level was at $19.4 trillion.

The U.S. fiscal situation has had market ramifications, which have played out recently and likely pushed the Treasury Department into announcing Wednesday that it is upping the size of its repurchases at the long end of the yield curve.

Treasury yields have surged since late June, hitting levels not seen since before the global financial crisis that ultimately saw the Federal Reserve take benchmark rates to near zero. The Fed also instituted an aggressive bond repurchasing program in late 2008 that helped suppress rates.

However, concerns over the debt-and-deficit situation, along with surging corporate bond issuance associated with artificial intelligence investments, rising term premia and worries over the Fed’s commitment to inflation fighting, have been a tail wind for yields.

With the Fed hesitant to move on rates absent more information on inflation and the labor market, the government has seen its borrowing costs soar. Interest on the debt has totaled nearly $1.2 trillion this year and is the largest budget expenditure outside of Social Security and Medicare.

Correction: The debt total passed $40 trillion on Tuesday. An earlier version misstated the day.

Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio will remain in his reelection race, after a key deadline passed for the GOP to replace him as its nominee, despite mounting calls from fellow Republicans for him to drop his reelection bid.

Under Ohio law, Republicans have until Monday at 4 p.m. to name a replacement nominee. But the local Republican officials responsible for choosing one must receive at least two days’ notice before meeting, meaning Miller would have needed to withdraw by Saturday for the party to complete the process in time. He did not.

Miller has now effectively missed the deadline, but could still withdraw and have his name removed from the ballot. Republicans would then be left without a nominee in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District.

Miller’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deadline passed after a week of escalating Republican pressure on Miller to step aside over claims from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, that he physically abused her and their young daughter. Miller has denied the allegations.

Miller’s father-in-law, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, called the incumbent “a danger” last weekend and urged him to resign. Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio later joined calls for Miller to leave office and end his campaign.

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have stood by Miller.

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation last week into whether Miller may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use after Miller asked the panel to investigate him.

Miller is now positioned to face Democrat Brian Poindexter in November in a district that had been considered reliably Republican, as the GOP fights to preserve its narrow House majority.

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced bipartisan legislation Wednesday aimed at toughing a ban on Chinese automakers from the U.S. market, even as Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned that it could unintentionally bar Mercedes-Benz from selling vehicles in the country.

Cruz said during the committee’s markup of the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 that the bill’s 15% Chinese ownership threshold would cover Mercedes-Benz because two Chinese investors collectively own nearly 20% of its shares.

“We would never consider” banning Mercedes-Benz, Cruz said, adding that the bill would need to be changed before becoming law.

Mercedes-Benz’s two largest individual shareholders are Chinese state-owned automaker BAIC, formerly the Beijing Automotive Industrial Corp., with a 9.98% stake, and Geely founder Li Shufu, with 9.69%.

The bill would codify federal restrictions intended to keep Chinese-linked vehicle technology out of the U.S. over national security concerns that connected cars could collect sensitive data.

“We’re preventing an absolute, total, and complete destruction of our industrial base,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who introduced the bill with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.

Mercedes-Benz previously declined to comment on the legislation but said it employs more than 10,000 people in the U.S. and operates assembly plants in Alabama and South Carolina.

Moreno said during the markup that Mercedes-Benz would have until 2030 to comply with the ownership limit and could seek a waiver.

During the markup, Cruz also accused General Motors of supporting the provision in an effort to weaken Mercedes-Benz and make Cadillac more competitive.

“GM is pushing for this provision to get Mercedes-Benz out of the market,” Cruz said.

GM and Mercedes-Benz did not immediately respond to requests for comment. GM is the top-selling automaker in the U.S.

North Carolina state Treasurer Brad Briner said the year’s hottest IPO is too expensive for his pension fund to own.

Briner, who oversees roughly $200 billion for North Carolina’s teachers, firefighters and police officers, said the state has invested heavily in artificial intelligence startups OpenAI and Anthropic while avoiding a direct stake in SpaceX — expected to go public Friday — because of concerns that the Elon Musk-led company’s $1.77 trillion valuation leaves little room for future gains.

“There’s been a pricing issue that we’ve been concerned about for the last year or so with SpaceX,” Briner said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. “Elon Musk, an amazing entrepreneur, incredible technology to launch business, startling, etc. But at some point, things are fully priced. We’re trying to make a high-single-digit, predictable rate of return for our retirees. And we’ve got to consider valuation when we do that. And so, certainly, SpaceX at $1.75 trillion is a big valuation.”

SpaceX is scheduled to price its IPO on Thursday and begin trading on Friday. The rocket maker plans to sell 555.6 million shares at $135 apiece, raising about $75 billion and valuing the aerospace company at roughly $1.8 trillion.

Briner’s comments underscore a growing debate among institutional investors as SpaceX prepares for what is expected to be one of the largest initial public offerings in history. While many money managers view the company as a unique asset with dominant positions in rocket launches and satellite internet, other long-term investors are questioning whether today’s valuation already reflects much of that optimism.

The state treasurer has instead directed capital toward AI companies that he believes offer stronger risk-reward opportunities. North Carolina invested about $40 million in OpenAI and committed roughly $250 million to Anthropic earlier this year, a position he said is now worth more than $600 million.

“We saw an opportunity in Anthropic which we thought was completely mispriced earlier this year,” Briner said. “If you use that technology, you see how powerful it is.”

Rather than buying SpaceX shares in the private market, Briner said North Carolina’s pension system expects to gain exposure through index funds once the company goes public.

“We will ultimately participate in SpaceX through our index positions in our public equity,” he said, “but we don’t have any on the private side.”

SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s email asking for comment.

New York City’s new tax on second homes will more than double property taxes owed by many wealthy luxury apartment owners, according to tax experts.

State lawmakers on Wednesday passed the tax on nonprimary residences in order to help close the city’s budget gap. The so-called pied-a-terre tax will be imposed on second homes valued at $1 million or more. It’s expected to raise $500 million in revenue.

Details on the tax obtained by CNBC show that the property tax would take effect in two different phases. In the first two years – the tax years 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 – condos and co-ops valued at more than $1 million by the city’s Department of Finance will be subject to the tax. Properties worth between $1 million and $3 million will face a 4% annual tax; properties valued at $3 million to $5 million will face a 5.25% tax; and those above $5 million will face a 6.5% tax.

While the tax seems large, experts say the city’s antiquated assessment and valuation system dramatically undervalues properties, reducing the burden. City valuations can often be 10% or less of the true market value, they said.

Rather than overhaul the system immediately, the city will gradually update valuations – and the tax – according to the budget documents. Starting in the 2028-2029 tax year, the property values will be based on comparable sales. Since valuations will skyrocket, the tax rates will fall to compensate.

After the valuation adjustments, properties worth between $5 million and $15 million will be subject to a tax rate of 0.8%; properties between $15 million and $25 million will be taxed at 1.05%; and properties over $25 million will be taxed at 1.3%, according to the budget plan.

“It’s incredibly complicated,” said Robert Pollack, a New York property tax attorney with Marcus and Pollack LLP.

Billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin became the face of the tax after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a video in front of Griffin’s penthouse apartment announcing the tax. Griffin fired back, threatening to pull back business and jobs from New York in the future.

Under the new tax, Griffin — who is a tax resident of Florida — would see his Manhattan property tax bill more than triple, according to CNBC calculations.

Griffin purchased his 24,000-square-foot penthouse at 220 Central Park South in 2019 for $238 million. However, according to government records, the city values the apartment at just $15.5 million. Griffin’s property tax bill for the 2026-2027 tax year is $858,332, according to city records.

In the first two years of the pied-a-terre tax, Griffin’s property tax bill would more than…

The chief executive of Maersk, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, said Thursday that one of its commercial vessels was able to successfully pass through the Strait of Hormuz thanks to a “very well executed mission” by the U.S. Navy.

Maersk confirmed earlier in the week that Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged ship operated by Farrell Lines, a subsidiary of Maersk Line Ltd., or MLL, completed its transit through the narrow waterway and the Persian Gulf without incident on Monday, accompanied by the U.S. military.

In doing so, the vessel became one of a relatively small number of ships to have safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israeli-led war against Iran started on Feb. 28.

Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said the company had deliberately taken a “very cautious approach” during the Middle East crisis, opting not to take any crossings despite several of its ships being left stranded in the region.

“In this case here, we were approached by the U.S. government and the U.S. Navy specifically saying that they wanted to take some ships out,” Clerc told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.

“We went through intense preparation together with them, looked at all the aspects of the mission and whether we could stand-in for the safety of the crew if we were sending the ship along in that operation,” he continued.

“So, a very well executed mission by the U.S. military. And thank God for that, because then it means that the ship is free, and the crew now can get back to doing the work that they want to do and are supposed to do — rather than be stuck in the Gulf,” Clerc said.

The mission came about as the U.S. military sought to deliver on President Donald Trump’s short-lived “Project Freedom,” an initiative designed to free ships that had been stranded by Iran’s closure of the strait, a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

U.S. Central Command said via social media on Monday that two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels had successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the region.

Trump subsequently called off “Project Freedom” on Tuesday, however, saying in a social media post that the movement of ships through the key maritime chokepoint would be paused to see whether the U.S. and Iran could agree to bring an end to the conflict.

Maersk’s CEO said the company still has eight ships trapped in the Persian Gulf, noting this is a small number relative to its size.

“But this is obviously a situation where eventually we’re going to need to find a solution for all of these ships,” Clerc said.

“Some of them are supposed to stay in the Gulf and work there to move cargo inside the Gulf, but for most of them, they are trapped, and…

The House on Thursday passed on a vote of 261-111 a 45-day extension of a controversial foreign surveillance program, voting just as the program was set to expire.

The Senate earlier Thursday unanimously passed the measure, which will next go to President Donald Trump for his signature next. The president has urged Congress to reauthorize the program.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans. Opponents have argued that extending the program without amendments could lead to abuses and the U.S. government’s spying on American citizens, while proponents say it’s a crucial national security tool.

The Senate had rejected a bipartisan House proposal to reauthorize the program for three years. That measure included unrelated language that would have banned the Federal Reserve from establishing a central bank digital currency.

Senators from both parties opposed the digital currency language and instead pivoted to their own short-term solution for FISA, punting on broader negotiations until lawmakers return to Washington in mid-May after a scheduled recess.

“This is not the outcome that any of us wanted for the FISA 702 program, but here we are,” Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said during debate on the House floor on Thursday.

“The 702 program is incredibly important for protecting our national security and advancing our interest abroad. This temporary extension will ensure that there is no disruption to the program while we work out our differences on a longer reauthorization,” Jordan said.

Thursday’s vote is the second short-term extension of the program in less than a month. On April 17, the House and Senate passed a 10-day patch that carried the surveillance program through Thursday.

Members on both sides of the aisle concerned with individual privacy have sought to end the government’s warrantless collection of its own citizens’ data as part of the program.

“Nothing about protecting our safety should prevent us from protecting our rights. We can have both,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the House Judiciary Committee ranking member, said from the House floor.

The House and Senate on Friday approved a short-term extensive of a section of federal law that allows the warrantless surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence, though a renewal beyond the end of this month remains in jeopardy.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was set to expire on Monday and allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans. Friday’s votes extend the program to April 30.

The short-term extension advanced out of the House only after GOP hard-liners spiked separate five-year and 18-moth proposals to extend the program in the early hours of Friday morning.

Why is Section 702 controversial?

Supporters argue the warrantless surveillance program is an invaluable tool in protecting U.S. interests and thwarting potential threats. The CIA said this month that the program helped to thwart a planned terrorist attack at a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Austria.

But an extension without changes to the program is widely opposed by many GOP hard-liners and by some Democrats, like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who briefly held up the short-term extension on Friday but relented in the hopes of striking a deal to more substantially change the surveillance program.

“Americans understand that every single day there are abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” Wyden said from the Senate floor on Friday, calling a straight extension unacceptable. “So it is clear it’s time for real reforms to protect Americans from a government that they rightly do not trust.”

What does the White House say?

President Donald Trump has called for a clean, 18-month extension of the program, posting his support on Truth Social on Wednesday and citing the need for robust defenses particularly amid the ongoing war in Iran.

“The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military. I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it vital. Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it — especially right now with our brilliant Military Operation in Iran,” Trump said.

What’s next?

The House and Senate both left town on Friday after advancing the short-term extension. Leaders in both chambers will have to resume negotiations when they return to Washington next week. And they’ll have to contend with members on both sides of the aisle who are calling for greater protections of U.S. citizens’ privacy.

Reps. Jim Himes, D-Conn., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrats on the House Intelligence, Judiciary and Rules committees, respectively, issued a joint statement on Friday slamming their Republican colleagues for trying to…

For the first time, Amazon has dethroned Walmart as the company with the largest annual revenue.

Walmart on Thursday reported annual revenue of $713.2 billion for its most recent fiscal year, shy of Amazon’s $716.9 billion in revenue. The milestone was brewing for months, as Amazon leapfrogged Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time about a year ago.

The shuffle, while largely symbolic, underscores the battle the two retailers have waged both to define and keep up with ever-changing consumer preferences. They are kicking off a new chapter of that rivalry as artificial intelligence reshapes how companies operate, make money and drive sales.

Amazon rose to the top of the revenue pile by doing much more than running a sprawling online web store and promising speedy delivery. While its core retail unit is its largest revenue generator, its huge cloud computing, advertising and seller services businesses also fuel its sales. Third-party seller services, which include commissions and fees collected by Amazon fulfillment along with shipping, advertising and customer support, accounted for about 24% of the company’s total sales in 2025, according to its latest annual filing. Amazon Web Services was responsible for roughly 18%.

It wasn’t Walmart’s weakness that led it to lose its top spot, as its revenue has more than doubled in 20 years. The retailer has leaned on its more than 4,600 Walmart stores and roughly 600 Sam’s Club locations in the U.S. to power its digital business, which grew by 27% in the U.S. in the fiscal fourth quarter and has posted double-digit percentage gains for 15 straight quarters.

That expansion came as Walmart riffed off the Amazon playbook and tried to position itself as a tech company as well as a retailer.

There have been multiple signs of its ambitions: Walmart relisted its stock, moving from the New York Stock Exchange to the tech-heavy Nasdaq in early December. Its market value surpassed the $1 trillion mark earlier this month, a valuation achieved almost exclusively by tech companies, including Amazon, after a more than 21% rise in the last year.

And the big-box retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings, which were boosted by digital advertising and its third-party marketplace, illustrated Walmart’s emphasis on chasing higher-margin businesses and thinking beyond brick-and-mortar retail.

Walmart struck a deal with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in October and Google’s Gemini in January to make its products easier to discover and buy. It also has its own AI-powered shopping assistant, Sparky. The…