Interest on the $38.8 trillion national debt has tripled since 2020 and it already costs taxpayers more than defense and Medicaid | Fortune

"The United States is now paying nearly $970 billion a year just to service the interest on its $38.8 trillion national debt - a figure that has nearly tripled since 2020 and already exceeds what the federal government spends on national defense or Medicaid, according to a February analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB)."

"As a share of the economy, interest costs have doubled from 1.6% of GDP in 2021 to a record 3.2% in 2025. Today, the government already spends more on debt interest than on Medicaid or the entire national defense budget, programs Americans viscerally feel and politically fight over."

"According to the Congressional Budget Office's latest baseline, net interest costs are projected to more than double again, from $970 billion in fiscal year 2025 to $2.1 trillion by 2036. Between now and 2036, debt held by the public is expected to grow by 86%, adding roughly $26 trillion, while the average interest rate on that debt will tick up another half a percentage point."

"By 2036, interest payments will consume one-quarter of all federal revenue, up from roughly one-fifth today and just one-tenth back in 2021. Put another way: for every four dollars the U.S. collects in taxes, one will go entirely toward paying creditors - not roads, not veterans, not schools."

The United States faces a critical fiscal crisis as interest payments on its $38.8 trillion national debt have surged to nearly $970 billion annually, more than tripling since 2020. This spending now exceeds federal expenditures on national defense and Medicaid combined. Interest costs have grown due to both expanded federal debt and rising interest rates from pandemic-era lows. As a share of GDP, interest costs doubled from 1.6% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2025. The Congressional Budget Office projects interest costs will more than double again to $2.1 trillion by 2036, consuming one-quarter of all federal revenue. Despite its magnitude and consequences, this fiscal emergency receives comparatively little public attention or political discussion.

Read at Fortune