Borrowing Binge Guts The Military

A large gathering of officials in a congressional chamber during a legislative session

America’s debt bill is now so large that it is swallowing money meant for defense and other core needs.

Quick Take

Interest on the national debt reached $970 billion in fiscal year 2025, above Pentagon spending.^[2]
The Congressional Budget Office says net interest is on track to hit $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026.^[4]
Interest now ranks behind only Social Security in the federal budget.^[2]
Debt grew by $2.23 trillion over the past year, with interest costs rising fast.^[3]

Debt Service Is Overtaking Defense

The numbers now point to a hard truth: Washington is paying more to service past borrowing than it spends on the military. The Peterson Foundation reports that fiscal year 2025 interest costs hit $970 billion, while Pentagon spending was $917 billion.^[2] That gap matters because defense is one of the federal government’s core duties. When interest beats defense, the budget is no longer just stretched. It is being squeezed by old mistakes.

The Congressional Budget Office says the problem is not stopping soon. Its outlook projects net interest will reach $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026 and keep climbing after that.^[4] The same analysis says interest costs will become one of the fastest-growing parts of the budget over the next decade. For taxpayers, that means more dollars sent to creditors and fewer dollars left for border security, national defense, and other basic responsibilities.

What The Latest Data Shows

The Peterson Foundation also says interest costs took up 18.5 percent of federal revenues in 2025, which is higher than the previous peak in 1991.^[2] That share is a warning sign because revenue should first cover the government’s core work. Instead, a growing chunk is going to debt service. The Joint Economic Committee, led by Senate Republicans, reported that national debt rose by $2.23 trillion year over year as of December 2025.^[3]

That same report said the average interest rate on marketable debt was 3.382 percent in November 2025, more than double the rate from five years earlier.^[3] Rising rates make the debt problem worse because each new borrowing cycle costs more. The result is a compounding burden. Even if spending does not rise, the bill still climbs because the government keeps rolling over huge amounts of debt at higher rates.

Why Conservatives See A Fiscal Red Flag

Fiscal conservatives argue that this is what happens when Washington spends first and asks questions later. The research shows a federal budget drifting away from limited-government principles and toward permanent debt dependence.^[4]^[2] That does not mean the government is about to stop paying its bills. It does mean taxpayers are funding a system where borrowing now crowds out priorities that should come before interest payments. That is a real warning, not a talking point.

At the same time, the research package does not prove an immediate fiscal collapse or a bond market panic. It does show a clear trend that is easy to understand: debt is rising, interest costs are rising, and the gap is tightening.^[3]^[4] For readers who care about constitutional government, strong defense, and honest budgeting, the lesson is simple. Washington cannot keep burying today’s bills under tomorrow’s taxpayers forever.