The arithmetic is simple enough. Divide the nine months of borrowing since October by nine and the U.S. Treasury comes out at roughly $155 billion a month, or $39 billion per week, according to a Fortune analysis published July 10, 2026.
The Congressional Budget Office put the deficit for the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 at $1.4 trillion, which is $35 billion more than at the same point last year. Revenues rose by $142 billion (4 percent). Outlays rose faster in dollar terms, by $178 billion (3 percent). The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget added a detail for June alone: $126 billion borrowed in the month. Fortune put the national debt at $39.4 trillion.
The interest bill
The detail that matters is what the debt costs to carry. CBO’s review shows net interest on public debt reaching $857 billion for the fiscal year so far, about $23.8 billion a week. That is roughly $100 billion (13%) above the same stretch of 2025, which CBO attributes to a bigger pile of debt and higher long-term interest rates. Interest payments now exceed the combined outlays of Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security, Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Coronavirus Refundable Credits scheme, by $20 billion.
The programmes that drive the larger spending lines keep growing as well. Social Security benefits rose by $62 billion (5%), because average benefits went up and more people claim them. Medicare outlays climbed $58 billion (8%) on higher enrollment and higher payment rates. Medicaid added $49 billion (10%), with rising costs per enrollee behind it.
What the budget hawks say
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the 2026 deficit had overtaken 2025’s and was likely to stay ahead. “We will likely borrow $2 trillion or more this fiscal year,” she told Fortune, calling that “an astounding figure given that the economy keeps growing and unemployment is low.”
Her group argues for a deficit of 3% of GDP, about half where it stands now. In its own statement it warned that Social Security and Medicare are within seven years of trust fund exhaustion. Last year’s deficit for the same nine months was just over $1.3 trillion; this year’s has already passed it.
Sources
- U.S. Treasury has borrowed $155 billion every month of this fiscal year—and is now paying $24 billion a week in interest on its debts
- Monthly Budget Review: June 2026 | Congressional Budget Office
- CBO Estimates FY 2026 Deficit Overtakes 2025, Totals $1.4 Trillion | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
