Interest on debt to eclipse defense spending within five years

Interest on the federal debt will eclipse total defense spending in the next five years, the Congressional Budget Office projected Monday, a reflection of the size of the large and growing federal debt.

The CBO, Congress’ nonpartisan group of budget and economic analysts, reckoned that the combination of tax cuts and spending increases over the past year will result in the federal debt rising from around three-quarters percent of the country’s gross domestic product today to between 96 percent and 105 percent in 2028. As a result, interest costs would rise from $316 billion this year to $915 billion by 2028.