Personal Bankruptcies Are at Their Highest Levels in Years Under President Trump

President Trump promised to bring down prices on “Day One” of his presidency.  Instead, more than a year into his second term, the cost of living crisis has worsened as a result of his reckless economic policies, including tariffs that function as a national sales tax. 

American families spent an additional $1,625 for basic living expenses in 2025, with groceries alone going up $310. The cost of health care, housing, and child care all continue to rise, putting pressure on household budgets and crushing any cushion families had to make ends meet. Household debt is increasing, and credit card and auto loan delinquencies are growing as families struggle to pay their bills.  To make matters worse, the job market continues to deteriorate, and Americans are struggling to find higher-paying jobs.

These increasing costs make it harder for families to meet their obligations, and the effects are being felt across the broader economy. In a new analysis of data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, the House Budget Committee finds that the number of people filing for personal bankruptcy increased by 11 percent during the President’s first year in office. Bankruptcies have not been this high since 2019, during President Trump’s first term. 

The Committee analyzed personal bankruptcy filings data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for 2024 and 2025. As shown in the table below, the Committee finds that 47 states and D.C. saw an increase in personal bankruptcies between 2024 and 2025. Nationally, the U.S. saw 55,000 more personal bankruptcy filings in 2025 compared to 2024, hitting a total of nearly 544,000. 

Meanwhile, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have no plans to bring costs down for families. In fact, they continue to make costs go up. For example, they have refused to extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, a particularly worrisome outcome in light of the fact that health costs are a significant cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. 

Instead of addressing the cost-of-living crisis, President Trump and Congressional Republicans made things worse by passing their Big, Ugly Law, which enacted the largest cuts to health care and nutrition assistance in American history — all to deliver even bigger tax breaks to billionaires. In fact, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Big, Ugly Law represents one of the largest transfers of wealth from low-income Americans to the wealthiest households in U.S. history. The bottom third of Americans will be poorer as a direct result of this bill. 

In President Trump’s economy, billionaires and big corporations win. Everyone else loses.