The federal government added roughly $1.8 trillion to the now $38 trillion national debt in fiscal year 2025. While net interest on the debt totaled $970 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s net interest payments exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.
By Catholics for Catholics
Our nation in trouble.
As the United States hit a sad fiscal historic low during the fiscal year 2025 Budget, watchdogs are crying havoc: government spending on debt interest payments alone surpassed $1 trillion this year.
And surpassing the $1 trillion mark is far from all the bad news; the federal government added about $1.8 trillion to the now $38 trillion national debt in fiscal year 2025, according to a story by Just The News. While net interest on the debt totaled $970 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s net interest payments exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.
In other words, that’s more than the country spends on national defense, almost as much as it uses on Medicare, and about two-thirds of what it employs on Social Security benefits.
Historically high interest payments – which are projected to rise to $1.8 trillion in 2035 – could cause a debt spiral in the future if Congress does not administrate spending, said Chris Towner, from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The interest on our $38 trillion dollar national debt has now reached $1 trillion dollars but they are pitching a $112.1 billion dollar plan to rebuild Gaza with the U.S. supporting half of that in grants and debt guarantees.
Of course after they clear 10,000+ dead bodies buried… pic.twitter.com/otlZrSn8VU
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 22, 2025
“If we were to get into a situation where we have to keep borrowing, and then the people who loan us money get worried that we’re not going to pay it all back, we could see higher and higher interest rates – which means we have to borrow more to pay the interest on the debt, which means that the interest rates go higher, and that turns into what we call a debt spiral,” Towner told The Center Square.
“I hope we’re far away from that, but right now, we’re pretty close to the highest the debt that has ever been as a share of the economy, and that’s how economists think about it – the debt is equal to about 100% of the economy right now.”
Rand Paul, the U.S. Senator from Kentucky, said about the matter on a post on X: “By 2035, we’re looking at $1.8 TRILLION in interest payments on our national debt. “Washington needs to get serious about reining in spending.”
Towner added that the highest percentage the national debt has made up of Gross Domestic Product was 106%, and that was right after World War II. If the present borrowing rates remain, the U.S. will reach that point again within the next five years.
“We don’t really know what happens after that,” Towner said. “And what I fear is already starting to happen is that the higher debt we have, the slower the economy is growing. Every dollar that the federal government borrows results in about 33 cents less of investment in the economy from the private sector.”
The ripple effects of slowed economic growth are many, Towner added.
“Fewer buildings, fewer machines, being invested in fewer workers, being hired, all of that. And then what could happen, too, is interest rates could rise pretty significantly, because interest rates throughout the economy are really directly tied to how much it costs the government to borrow.”
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