Americans encouraged to Venmo and Paypal the government to pay off national debt

Daily Mail​

a day ago

As the US national debt nears $38trillion, the government has proposed a novel way for citizens to help pay off the tab.
Americans are being encouraged to make donations with their Venmo and Paypal accounts.
The option for a 'gift to reduce the Public Debt' was added to the US Department of the Treasury website a few months ago.
It means that philanthropic residents with a burning desire to pay off Uncle Sam's debt will now have the option to use those methods, alongside traditional ones such as account transfers and credit and debit card payments.
Allowing citizens to pay off the national debt - among other tabs - is nothing new, as the US Treasury, run by Scott Bessent, has long offered the option since 1996.
But it seems they are now tapping into more popular payment systems, like Gen-Z favorite Venmo, to make it more easily accessible for those hesitant to attach their card and bank details.
The current national debt stands at $36,721,531,033,602, as of Friday.
As the US national debt nears $38trillion, Americans are now being encouraged to help pay off the tab with their Venmo and PayPal accounts
Allowing citizens to pay off the national debt - among other tabs - is nothing new, as the US Treasury, run by Scott Bessent, has long offered the option since 1996. But it seems they are now tapping into more popular payment systems, like Gen-Z favorite Venmo
It's up $34.5billion from the previous day, Treasury Department numbers show.
The debt has grown each year since 2001, where it was at $10.3trillion and it doesn't appear the US will downsize its growing bill anytime soon after passing the Big Beautiful Bill.
President Donald Trump's prized bill will add $3.4trillion to the debt over 10 years.
The federal government also spent nearly $7trillion in the 2024 fiscal year, but collected approximately $5trillion.
The US Treasury Department has burned through cash at a historic rate in March - an alarming signal that may require lawmakers to intervene to prevent the country from defaulting on the national debt.
The agency burned through $286billion in the month of March alone.
This is the largest single-month drawdown in American history, and it's only rivaled by the Treasury spending $279billion in August 2021 during the height of the pandemic.
The change to payment methods was first spotted by NPR's Jack Corbett on X.
Though it may seem unlikely that any American citizens would willingly hand the government more money, the feds have garnered $67.3million through the donation program since its inception.
Although it may seem like a large amount, the government burns through that it less than a half an hour.