CBO: net interest reaches 96% of discretionary outlays by 2036
Source. CBO, Budget and Economic Outlook, February 2026, Table 1-1
Method and data
Method. Both lines are CBO outlays in billions of dollars as published (net interest and discretionary); the 96% in the title is 2036 net interest divided by 2036 discretionary outlays, 2,144 over 2,244 or 95.5% in the CSV's derived column, and is not plotted.
| Fiscal year | Net interest ($ billions) | Net interest (% of GDP) | Discretionary outlays ($ billions) | Net interest (% of discretionary outlays, derived) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 970 | 3.2 | 1,872 | 51.8 | actual |
| 2026 | 1,039 | 3.3 | 1,880 | 55.3 | baseline |
| 2027 | 1,108 | 3.3 | 1,882 | 58.9 | baseline |
| 2028 | 1,218 | 3.5 | 1,929 | 63.1 | baseline |
| 2029 | 1,324 | 3.7 | 1,948 | 68 | baseline |
| 2030 | 1,432 | 3.8 | 1,989 | 72 | baseline |
| 2031 | 1,548 | 4 | 2,024 | 76.5 | baseline |
| 2032 | 1,670 | 4.1 | 2,063 | 81 | baseline |
| 2033 | 1,784 | 4.3 | 2,111 | 84.5 | baseline |
| 2034 | 1,904 | 4.4 | 2,147 | 88.7 | baseline |
| 2035 | 2,019 | 4.5 | 2,187 | 92.3 | baseline |
| 2036 | 2,144 | 4.6 | 2,244 | 95.5 | baseline |
Download federal-funding-calendar-05-net-interest-vs-discretionary.csv
