The government’s near-$40 trillion national debt is now costing the Treasury more than $3 billion a day in service payments, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In its August budget update, the CBO reported that net interest on public debt totaled $963 billion between October 2025 (when the fiscal year begins) and July 2026. That equates to $96.3 billion a month, or approximately $3.18 billion a day over the 303 days in between.Interest payments on the debt have grown by $117 billion—or 14%—compared to the same period last year, the CBO added, on account of the debt being “larger than it was in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2025 and because of higher long-term interest rates.” The CBO, led by director Phil Swagel, added: “Declines in short-term rates partially mitigated the overall rise in interest payments.”
The latest budget update is further evidence for debt hawks who suggest policymakers are heading in the wrong direction when it comes to fiscal responsibility: Deficits totaled $1.8 trillion in the first 10 months of this fiscal year, $169 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year.
With that information in mind, the CBO updated its deficit projection for the total fiscal year to $2.1 trillion, $200 billion more than the deficit projected in February of this year.
