Spending
Where the money goes
In fiscal year 2025 the federal government spent $7.01T, about $19.2B a day, and collected $5.24T; the $1.77T gap was borrowed. Most of it goes to a few things: Social Security, health care, interest on the debt, and the military. Every category below opens into its subcategories and, from there, the individual programs, all from the government's own account-level budget data.
Of every dollar spent
FY2025 outlays by category, in cents per dollar. Colors show how each category is mostly funded; click a segment or name to drill in.
- 22.5¢Social Security
- 14.2¢Medicare
- 14.0¢Health (excluding Medicare)
- 13.8¢Net interest
- 13.1¢National defense
- 10.0¢Income security (the safety net)
- 5.4¢Veterans benefits & services
- 7.0¢Everything else
Every category, FY2025
Net outlays by budget category. Each bar opens that category's breakdown. Colors show whether most of the category is mandatory (paid automatically under standing law) or discretionary (set by Congress each year).
Net totals: some categories subtract fees and collections. Commerce & housing credit is negative because mortgage-insurance and deposit-insurance receipts exceeded spending. Undistributed offsetting receipts are subtracted to reach the $7.01T total.
Autopilot or annual vote
How FY2025 spending is decided. Mandatory programs pay whatever standing law requires each year; discretionary programs get a fresh appropriation from Congress; interest is owed on the debt.
- 59%Mandatory: $4.17T. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and most of the safety net.
- 27%Discretionary: $1.88T, about 48% of it defense.
- 14%Net interest: $970B.
The 20 biggest programs
Individual budget accounts, FY2025. Plain-English names; the official account title is underneath. Click one to see the rest of its subcategory.
Spending and revenue since 1993
As a share of the economy (GDP), fiscal years 1993–2025. The gap between the lines is the deficit; the government ran surpluses only in FY1998–2001. Dashed lines mark inaugurations.
Spending jumped in the 2009 recession and again in the 2020–21 pandemic, then settled higher than before: 23.1% of GDP in FY2025, against a 20.1% average in FY1993–2019.
How the mix has changed
Each category's share of all federal spending, FY1993 (hollow dot) vs FY2025 (filled). The ten largest categories.
Health care outside Medicare (mostly Medicaid and ACA subsidies) went from 7.0% to 14.0% of spending, Medicare from 9.3% to 14.2%, and veterans' benefits from 2.5% to 5.4%. Defense fell from 20.7% to 13.1%, even though its budget is 57% bigger after inflation. Net interest is back near its 1993 share after falling to 5.2% in FY2021, when interest rates bottomed out.
All categories
Click a column to sort. Change since 2000 is adjusted for inflation; the sparkline shows each category in 2025 dollars, FY2000–2025.
| Category | FY2025 | Share | % of GDP | vs FY2024 | Real, since 2000 | FY2000–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $1.58T | 22.5% | 5.21% | +8.2% | +118% | |
| Medicare | $997B | 14.2% | 3.29% | +14% | +186% | |
| Health (excluding Medicare) | $979B | 14.0% | 3.23% | +7.4% | +258% | |
| Net interest | $970B | 13.8% | 3.20% | +10% | +146% | |
| National defense | $916B | 13.1% | 3.02% | +4.9% | +76% | |
| Income security (the safety net) | $702B | 10.0% | 2.31% | +4.6% | +56% | |
| Veterans benefits & services | $377B | 5.4% | 1.24% | +16% | +353% | |
| Transportation | $145B | 2.1% | 0.48% | +6.4% | +75% | |
| Natural resources & environment | $89.8B | 1.3% | 0.30% | +54% | +103% | |
| Justice & law enforcement | $83.1B | 1.2% | 0.27% | −0.8% | +65% | |
| Community & regional development | $82.4B | 1.2% | 0.27% | −3.3% | +338% | |
| Education, jobs & social services | $72.0B | 1.0% | 0.24% | −76% | −24% | |
| Agriculture | $47.4B | 0.7% | 0.16% | +44% | −26% | |
| International affairs | $45.2B | 0.6% | 0.15% | −20% | +48% | |
| Science, space & technology | $42.0B | 0.6% | 0.14% | +1.2% | +27% | |
| General government | $40.5B | 0.6% | 0.13% | +15% | +76% | |
| Energy | $20.8B | 0.3% | 0.07% | +53% | n/a | |
| Commerce & housing credit | −$28.1B | −0.4% | −0.09% | n/a | n/a | |
| Undistributed offsetting receipts | −$150B | −2.1% | −0.50% | n/a | n/a | |
| Total outlays | $7.01T | 100% | 23.12% | +4.1% | +121% |
The safety net: what “welfare” costs
“Welfare” isn't a budget line. The means-tested programs people usually mean, from Medicaid and SNAP to housing vouchers and the EITC, gathered across categories.
View →Income security, drilled down
Food aid, housing, SSI, refundable tax credits, unemployment, and federal pensions: the budget's own “safety net” category, program by program.
View →