The U.S. government has spent more than half a trillion dollars on interest payments for its national debt within just seven months.

According to a report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the expenditure on interest payments reached a staggering $514 billion during the first seven months of fiscal 2024. This amount exceeds the nation’s expenditure on Medicare and defense, The Daily Hodl reports.

These colossal interest payments also outweigh the combined spending on veterans’ benefits, education and transportation. Such figures underscore the significant financial obligations posed by the national debt and highlight the challenge of managing the country’s fiscal health.

As the national debt approaches $34.8 trillion, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said government leaders need a renewed effort to lower the debt.

“I think the level of debt in the United States, the level of spending is something that we need a sharper focus on and more dialogue around than what we’ve seen,” he told Bloomberg News this month.

“We obviously had a pandemic, we made a bunch of decisions in that pandemic, but we’re long out of that pandemic and the spending levels are continuing at a pace that I think is raising our debt level and creating issues for us down the road. So I think this is something that deserves a lot of attention.”

Mr. Solomon acknowledged not much will be done this year to tackle the debt. “We’re obviously in an election year, so I don’t have my head in the sand. I don’t think you’re going to see that get a lot of attention prior to the election, but I do think it’s something that requires focus.”

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