How One Billion Dollars Vanishes in Government Payment Float

The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending · Jun 25, 2026 · 8m · transcript

Every day, the US federal government holds roughly $150 billion in unpaid invoices. That float — the gap between when the government owes money and when it actually pays — earns interest for the Treasury, not for the businesses waiting on their money. In this episode, Lucas and Luna drill into a 2025 Government Accountability Office report showing that the Treasury Department earned $1.2 billion in interest on payment float last year alone, while small businesses and state contractors effectively provided an interest-free loan to the government. They explore how other countries like the UK…