AP US Government

Answer: E - Social Security payments are by far the largest expenditure most years, followed by national defense (especially if the US happens to be in a war at the time). Until recently, the US brought in more revenue from Social Security taxes than was spent on Social Security payments, but that has recently changed and is likely to get worse in the future. Most economists expect expenditures on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest payments on the debt to grow significantly for the next two decades, probably increasing the size of the national deficit and debt.