President Biden's administration is placing the blame for the United States' drop in credit rating on former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 riots.

Fitch announced Tuesday it has officially downgraded the United States' long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to "AA+" from "AAA," saying the downgrade "reflects the expected fiscal deterioration" and the nation's heavy debt burden.

An administration official claimed to FOX Business on Wednesday that the underlying model was AAA until former President Donald Trump's administration.

Fitch Ratings downgraded its US debt rating on Tuesday from the highest AAA rating to AA+, citing “a steady deterioration in standards of governance.”

The downgrade comes after lawmakers negotiated up until the last minute on a debt ceiling deal earlier this year, risking the nation’s first default. But the January 6 insurrection was also a major contributing factor.

The US government's credit rating has been downgraded following concerns over the state of the country's finances and its debt burden.

Fitch, one of three major independent agencies that assess creditworthiness, cut the rating from the top level of AAA to a notch lower at AA+.

Fitch said it had noted a "steady deterioration" in governance over the last 20 years.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the downgrade "arbitrary".

It was based on "outdated data" from the period 2018 to 2020, she said.