what does the us government spend the most money on
United States federal budget During FY2016, the federal government spent $3.85 trillion on a budget or cash basis, up $164 billion or 4% vs. FY2015 spending of $3.69 trillion. Major categories of FY 2016 spending included: Healthcare such as Medicare and Medicaid ($1,060B or 28% of spending), Social Security ($910B or 24%), non-defense discretionary spending used to run federal Departments and Agencies ($600B or 16%), Defense Department ($585B or 15%), and interest ($240B or 6%).[1]