EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog warns of national debt interest payments hitting $1 trillion

Budget watchdogs are sounding the alarm as the U.S. hit an unfortunate fiscal milestone in fiscal year 2025: government spending on debt interest payments alone topped $1 trillion this year.

The federal government added roughly $1.8 trillion to the now $38 trillion national debt in fiscal year 2025. While net interest on the debt totaled $970 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s net interest payments exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

That’s more than the U.S. spends on national defense, almost as much as it spends on Medicare, and about two-thirds of what it spends on Social Security benefits.

Chris Towner from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said historically high interest payments – which are projected to rise to $1.8 trillion in 2035 – could cause a debt spiral in the future if Congress does not reign in sp...