Halfway through fiscal year 2024, the United States has spent more on net interest than on national defense or Medicare, according to the House Budget Committee. The committee pointed to a piece from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that reached the same conclusion.
Interest on the debt is the fastest growing part of the budget, the group said. It “nearly doubl[ed] from $345 billion (1.6 percent of GDP) in FY 2020 to $659 billion (2.4 percent of GDP) in 2023,” and is on track to reach $870 billion, or 3.1 percent of GDP, by the end of this fiscal year.
Bigger than veterans, education and transportation together
This year’s interest bill also exceeds all spending on veterans, education and transportation combined, the budget group noted. It is now the second largest line in the budget, and by 2051, it said, interest will be the largest.
Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican, tied the rise to the nation’s $34 trillion debt. He blamed “Washington’s insatiable appetite for borrowing and spending,” which he said crowds out tax dollars for programs Americans rely on.
What the CBO projects
The Congressional Budget Office expects interest payments to nearly double under current law, from $870 billion in 2024 to $1.6 trillion, or 3.9 percent of GDP, in 2034. That would be the highest level in American history. Across the decade, net interest would total $12.4 trillion, and by 2034 it would eat up more than 20 percent of revenue.
The committee, which is Republican-led, also said projected 10-year interest costs have almost tripled since the president took office, a claim it ties to his economic policies.
Its own answer is the fiscal year 2025 “Reverse the Curse” budget resolution. The committee says the plan balances the federal budget in 10 years and trims interest payments by $2.7 trillion, a cut of more than 20 percent from CBO projections.
