Interest on the debt cost $1.4 trillion last year, audit finds

(The Center Square) – Interest costs on the national debt totaled $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2026, according to an audit of Treasury's books released by the Government Accountability Office. About $1.1 trillion of that was paid out to bondholders, with the rest credited to federal trust funds the government owes itself.

The audit found total federal debt reached $40.2 trillion as of Sept. 30, up about $2.5 trillion in a single year and about double the $19.6 trillion the government owed a decade earlier. GAO found Treasury's schedules fairly presented and its internal controls effective.