Pentagon's $1.5T Budget: How We Got Here
FY2027 PROPOSED
$1.5T
Largest single-year Pentagon budget in U.S. history
INCREASE VS FY2025
~50%
From ~$997B enacted in FY2025
SHARE OF GDP
~5.2%
Up from ~3% in recent years; approaching Cold War levels
INTEREST ON DEBT
$952B
FY2024 — now rivals defense in federal outlays
NATO TARGET
2% GDP
Alliance benchmark; U.S. would nearly triple it
Republican administration
Democratic administration
Projected / Proposed
Sources:OMB Historical TablesCBOSIPRIDoD Comptroller
Data sources
Historical Tables — Budget of the U.S. Government· Office of Management and BudgetThe Budget and Economic Outlook· Congressional Budget OfficeSIPRI Military Expenditure Database· Stockholm International Peace Research InstituteNational Defense Budget Estimates (Green Book)· Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)