$40 Trillion in Days, US Debt Interest Tops Defense as Yields Hit 2007 Highs

US debt interest has cost $1.17 trillion since October. National defense cost $804 billion. Washington now pays more to service old loans than to fund its military.

That crossover is not new. Interest first passed defense in 2024. What has changed is the speed of it.

Interest Costs Now Outrank the Pentagon

Treasury's monthly ledger shows the split. Interest on the public debt has run to $1.17 trillion since October. Defense has taken $804 billion.

A stricter measure tells the same story. Net interest leaves out what the government pays into its own trust funds. That figure still reached $931 billion.

Only Social Security and Medicare now cost the government more.

History gives the gap its weight. The Congressional Budget Office found net interest passed defense in fiscal 2024, by $123 billion across a full year. This year the gap is $127 billion after just 10 months.

The debt itself explains the pressure. Total borrowing reached $39.89 trillion on August 10. Only $108 billion stands between that and $40 trillion.

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