Question 1

How much does the US spend on the military?

Accepted Answer

The Pentagon's base budget is $886 billion in FY2025 — the largest discretionary line item in the federal budget, and larger than the next 10 countries' defense budgets combined. Social Security ($1.6T), combined healthcare ($1.66T), and interest on the debt ($1T) all exceed it now. Source: DoD FY2025 Budget, CBO, SIPRI.

Question 2

How much does Social Security cost?

Accepted Answer

Social Security is the single largest line item in the federal budget at roughly $1.6 trillion in FY2025 — about 23 cents of every federal dollar spent. It covers retirement benefits, disability insurance, and Supplemental Security Income. About 68 million Americans currently receive benefits. Source: Social Security Administration, SSA Trustees Report 2025, CBO.

Question 3

Is interest on the debt really bigger than defense?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For the first time, interest payments on the national debt exceeded $1 trillion in FY2025, surpassing the defense budget ($886 billion). The U.S. owes over $36 trillion in national debt, and as interest rates rose in 2023–2025, the cost of servicing that debt grew rapidly. This is the fastest-growing category of federal spending. Source: Treasury Department, CBO Monthly Budget Review.

Question 4

What does the government spend the most money on?

Accepted Answer

Healthcare (Medicare + Medicaid combined) is the single largest spending area at about $1.66 trillion. Social Security is close behind at $1.6 trillion. Together they account for nearly half the entire federal budget. Source: CBO FY2025.

Question 5

What is the federal deficit, and how does it show up here?

Accepted Answer

The federal deficit is the gap between what the government spends and what it collects in a given year. In FY2025, the government spent roughly $1.8 trillion more than it brought in — that gap is borrowed, adding to the $36+ trillion national debt. The fastest-growing consequence of that debt is interest payments, which crossed $1 trillion in FY2025 for the first time. Source: Treasury Department Monthly Treasury Statement, CBO FY2025.

Question 6

How much do we spend on foreign aid?

Accepted Answer

About $63 billion in FY2025, or roughly 0.9% of the federal budget. This includes USAID development programs, military assistance to allies, global health programs (like PEPFAR), and State Department embassy operations. Most Americans vastly overestimate this number — surveys show the average guess is around 18%. Source: CBO FY2025, Pew Research.

Question 7

How much goes to Israel?

Accepted Answer

About $3.8 billion per year in standard military aid under a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. Additional supplemental funding has been appropriated in recent years. This represents about 6% of the total foreign aid budget and roughly 0.05% of total federal spending. Source: Congressional Research Service, State Department.

Question 8

How much goes to Ukraine?

Accepted Answer

Approximately $12 billion in FY2025 through supplemental appropriations, covering weapons and equipment, military training, economic stabilization, and humanitarian aid. This is not part of the regular annual budget — it was authorized through separate supplemental spending bills. Source: Congressional Research Service, DOD Ukraine fact sheets.

Question 9

What about Planned Parenthood?

Accepted Answer

About $700 million per year, primarily through Medicaid reimbursements for services like contraception, STI testing, and cancer screenings. Federal law (the Hyde Amendment) prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life. Source: CRS, GAO, HHS.

Question 10

How much does the US spend on welfare?

Accepted Answer

The federal safety net (SNAP, housing assistance, unemployment insurance, tax credits like EITC and CTC) totals about $571 billion. If you include Medicaid ($510B), the number is over $1 trillion. Social Security is a separate program funded by its own payroll tax. Source: CBO FY2025.

Question 11

How much do we spend on SNAP (food stamps)?

Accepted Answer

About $102 billion in FY2025. SNAP serves roughly 42 million Americans, with an average benefit of about $194 per person per month. Source: USDA FNS, CBO FY2025.

Question 12

How much does the US spend on veterans?

Accepted Answer

The Department of Veterans Affairs budget is about $328 billion in FY2025, making it the 7th largest spending category — larger than education, infrastructure, and justice combined. About $135 billion goes to disability compensation and pension payments for roughly 6 million veterans. Source: VA FY2025 Congressional Budget Submission, CBO.

Question 13

How much do we spend on education vs. military?

Accepted Answer

At the federal level, education gets about $180 billion compared to $886 billion for defense. But education in the U.S. is primarily funded by states and local property taxes. Total education spending across all levels of government is roughly $950 billion, which actually exceeds federal defense spending. Source: CBO, Census Bureau, NCES.

Question 14

How much does the US spend on NASA?

Accepted Answer

About $26 billion in FY2025, or roughly 0.4% of the federal budget. This covers the Artemis moon program, Mars rovers, the James Webb Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and Earth science research. NASA's budget peaked at 4.4% of federal spending during the Apollo program in the 1960s. Source: NASA FY2025 Budget, OMB.

Question 15

Where does Homeland Security (DHS) fit in?

Accepted Answer

The Department of Homeland Security gets about $62 billion in FY2025. DHS includes Customs & Border Protection ($19B), FEMA ($30B+, varies with disasters), the Coast Guard ($14B), ICE ($9B), TSA ($11B), Cybersecurity/CISA ($3B), and the Secret Service ($3B). Source: DHS FY2025 Budget in Brief, CBO.

Question 16

How much goes to ICE and border enforcement?

Accepted Answer

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gets about $9 billion per year. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which includes the Border Patrol, gets about $19 billion. Combined, border and immigration enforcement totals roughly $28 billion, about 0.4% of total federal spending. Source: DHS Budget in Brief, CBP/ICE Congressional Budget Justifications.

Question 17

What about TSA?

Accepted Answer

The Transportation Security Administration gets about $11 billion in FY2025. That covers airport screening operations (60,000+ officers at 440 airports), air marshal service, and transportation security regulations. The majority of TSA's funding comes from the 9/11 Security Fee ($5.60 per one-way trip) plus general tax revenue. Source: TSA FY2025 Budget, DHS.