Key Takeaways:
The US government borrowed $1.4 trillion in nine months and now pays $24 billion a week in interest on its $39.4 trillion national debt.
The US federal deficit reached $1.373 trillion through the first nine months of fiscal 2026, surpassing the prior year's shortfall, as net interest costs and entitlement spending outpaced revenue growth, the Congressional Budget Office said.
"We will likely borrow $2 trillion or more this fiscal year — an astounding figure given that the economy keeps growing and unemployment is low," Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said. "This is likely the tip of the iceberg; borrowing will soar if policymakers fail to get our entitlements under control."
Net interest on the public debt was the largest driver of increased spending, rising $98 billion, or 13%, from a year ago to $857 billion over the nine-month period. That works out to roughly $23.8 billion a week. Social Security outlays rose $62 billion, or 5%, while Medicare and Medicaid spending increased $58 billion and $49 billion, respectively. On the revenue side, individual income and payroll taxes rose $169 billion, or 5%, but corporate income taxes fell $86 billion, or 24%, after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act expanded corporate deductions.
The national debt has surpassed $39.4 trillion and topped 100% of gross domestic product in March for the first time since World War II. The CBO projects the public debt will reach $56 trillion by 2036, a trajectory that budget watchdogs say is unsustainable without changes to entitlement programs and tax policy.
Interest costs now exceed major departments
Interest payments on the debt are now $20 billion larger than the combined outlays for the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security, Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, and the US Coronavirus Refundable Credits scheme. The US government added $89,208 per second to the national debt over the past year, according to estimates from the Joint Economic Committee.
The last time the debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 100% was in 1946, following the mobilization for World War II. That ratio then declined steadily over the following three decades as the economy grew faster than the debt. Today, the Congressional Budget Office sees no such automatic correction: its baseline shows the ratio continuing to climb, reaching 118% of GDP by 2035.
Entitlement pressures mount as population ages
Social Security and Medicare are within seven years of trust fund exhaustion, MacGuineas said, which would trigger across-the-board benefit cuts to both programs. The US population's median age rose to 39.4 in 2025 from 39.2 in 2024, Census Bureau data show, as the share of Americans 65 and older continues to grow. Men's share of the older population has increased to 81.6 males per 100 females age 65 and older, up from 70.6 in 2001.
MacGuineas advocated targeting a deficit of 3% of gross domestic product, roughly half its current level, a proposal that has gained support across the political spectrum. "Policymakers should be honest with the public about the grave dangers we face by remaining on this unsustainable path," she said.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
