U.S. National Debt Interest Exceeds Defense Spending
April 10th, 2024Via: Fox Business:
The latest budget update from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the federal government has spent more on paying interest on the national debt than on the military in fiscal year 2024.
The CBO’s budget report for March showed that the U.S. has spent $412 billion on military programs at the Department of Defense through the first half of FY2024, according to preliminary figures from CBO and the Treasury Department.
That represents an increase of $26 billion, or 8%, from the amount spent in the March through October period last year, but it has been surpassed by the rapidly growing cost of servicing the national debt.
Interest expenses incurred from the more than $34 trillion national debt totaled $440 billion in the first six months of FY2024 – an increase of $133 billion, or 43%, from the first half of FY2023.
