US federal budget: net interest might suggest tax increase, not tax cut

Self-tutoring about US federal spending: the tutor mentions a detail.

It seems, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, that the US federal government’s second-biggest expenditure in FY2024 was net interest, meaning, as I understand, interest paid on the federal debt.

Theoretically, the US federal government’s net interest payments will continue to increase unless it runs a surplus. By the end of February 2025, (FY 2025 started October 1, 2024), it seems to have run a deficit of 1.1T (fiscaldata.treasury.gov).

It might be hard to imagine how a responsible person in the US federal government could contemplate, under such circumstances, a tax cut. A tax increase sufficient to stop the red ink would seem a more sensible plan.

It’s perhaps important for voters to realize that a government, to acquire or maintain power, may make, and sometimes even deliver on, absurd promises.

Source:

usa.gov