The U.S. government spends more each year on interest payments on the national debt than it spends on the entire U.S. military.

The strongest available evidence supports the comparison for fiscal 2024. The Bipartisan Policy Center, citing federal budget data, reported $882 billion in net interest payments versus $874 billion in discretionary national-defense spending. The Congressional Budget Office’s fiscal-year review likewise identified 2024 as the first year in which interest payments exceeded military spending.taxpayer.nettaxpayer.netIt’s Official: Interest Payments on National Debt Leapfrog Military Spendingbipartisanpolicy.orgbipartisanpolicy.orgWhy the National Debt Matters for National Security

More recent reporting indicates that the gap continued or widened. CBS News reported that interest payments reached about $1.1 trillion in calendar year 2024, exceeding defense spending, while Fortune cited estimates of roughly $970 billion in annual interest costs in 2026, also above national-defense spending. These figures use somewhat different accounting periods and definitions, but they point to the same current trend.cbsnews.comcbsnews.comThe U.S. spends $1 trillion a year to service its debt. Here's why experts say...fortune.comfortune.comThe U.S. government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national...+1 more

The wording needs a time qualification. Interest payments did not exceed military or defense spending in every prior year. Multiple sources describe fiscal 2024 as the first such occurrence, or the first sustained period in recent memory. Earlier reporting in March 2024 described the crossover as a projection for that year, while later reporting and budget analyses treated it as an achieved result.cbsnews.comcbsnews.comU.S. interest payments on its debt are set to exceed defense spending. Should we...taxpayer.nettaxpayer.netIt’s Official: Interest Payments on National Debt Leapfrog Military Spending+2 more

The comparison is also generally between federal interest costs and national-defense or military spending, not literally every possible expenditure associated with the entire U.S. Military. That distinction does not change the central finding for the standard federal-budget comparison, but it makes “each year” too broad without specifying the period. Interest costs have recently surpassed defense spending and are projected to remain a growing budget burden, but the evidence supplied does not establish that this has happened in every year or will necessarily do so indefinitely.investopedia.cominvestopedia.comA Record $1.2 Trillion Interest Payments Are Blowing Up The Federal Budgetbipartisanpolicy.orgbipartisanpolicy.orgWhy the National Debt Matters for National Security+1 more