The High Cost of Borrowing Blindly The $40 trillion U. S.
national debt has reached a new milestone: interest payments have surpassed 1991's record, and analysts warn that today's risks are far more dire than they were three decades ago.
The federal government now shells out nearly 19% of all taxes and revenue to pay off the interest on its ballooning debt – equivalent to $1. 25 trillion, a figure that dwarfs the entire 2026 defense budget.