Interest payments could exceed military spending

(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - Inflation isn't just hitting home buyers and people with credit card debt - Uncle Sam is getting squeezed by higher borrowing costs, too.

The cost to finance America's growing mountain of debt is rising rapidly as the federal reserve scrambles to put out the inflation fire by raising interest rates.

So let's break down the numbers:

This year alone, the federal government spent $475 billion in interest - more than $120 billion over last year.

If things keep up this way, financial analysts worry by 2025 or 2026, the United States may end up paying more in federal interest payments than on the country's entire defense budget - which was $767 billion this year.

The fed has already raised interest rates by three percentage points so far this year, and another jumbo-sized interest rate hike is widely expected on Wednesday when the fed wraps up its latest policy meeting.

This plus another half a percentage point hike in December.