Under standard federal budget definitions, annual US interest payments on the national debt now exceed total defense spending. The American Action Forum confirms that the $970 billion spent on net interest in FY2025 surpassed the $917 billion spent on national defense — a historic crossover first reached in FY2024. Treasury-reported gross interest figures are even higher, reaching roughly $1.22 trillion in FY2025 when intragovernmental payments are included.
The comparison holds consistently across nonpartisan sources including the Congressional Budget Office, the Peterson Foundation, and USAFacts, all of which use the standard "national defense" budget function (Function 050, ~$886–919 billion enacted). The CBO projects interest payments will climb further — to $1.039 trillion in FY2026 and $2.1 trillion by 2036 — meaning the gap is expected to widen significantly over the coming decade.
One important caveat: if "total defense budget" is defined broadly to include VA benefits, Department of Energy nuclear programs, and homeland security, the combined figure can reach estimates as high as $1.4 trillion, which would reverse the comparison. However, this broader definition is non-standard and lacks transparent methodology. The mainstream budget comparison — net interest vs. national defense outlays — clearly shows interest now exceeding defense.