US Government Pays $514,000,000,000 in Interest on National Debt in Seven Months, Surpassing Defense and Medicare Costs: Report

The US government just spent over half a trillion dollars in interest payments on its national debt in a mere seven months.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) reports that net spending on interest reached $514 billion in the first seven months of fiscal 2024 – more than what was spent on both national defense and Medicare.

The massive interest payments also surpass all the money that was spent on veterans, education and transportation combined.

As the national debt nears $34.8 trillion, the state of America’s balance sheet is garnering increasing scrutiny from the financial world.

In a new interview with Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says political leaders must focus on the national debt and deficit, but he doesn’t think much will happen until after the election.

“I think the level of debt in the United States, the level of spending is something that we need a sharper focus on and more dialogue around than what we’ve seen. We obviously had a pandemic, we made a bunch of decisions in that pandemic, but we’re long out of that pandemic and the spending levels are continuing at a pace that I think is raising our debt level and creating issues for us down the road. 

So I think this is something that deserves a lot of attention. It’s not getting as much attention as I’d like to see it get right now. We’re obviously in an election year so I don’t have my head in the sand, I don’t think you’re going to see that get a lot of attention prior to the election but I do think it’s something that requires focus. We need to deal with the debt and the deficits, and hopefully, there will be a lot more discussions as we come through the election and move into the next administration.”

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