The United States federal government’s cumulative budget deficit was again $2 trillion in FY 2026, which ended Sept. 30; but this time, total interest paid by the Treasury reached $1.366 trillion, another leap upward from $1.2 trillion in FY2025. This was despite the Department of Defense contribution to the overall budget being only the fourth-largest component—at $965 billion. The military budget is already set, in Congressional enactments for FY2027, to be second only to Social Security’s $1.52 trillion.