The US government is now accepting donations via PayPal and Venmo to help reduce the national debt, which ballooned by a whopping $734.59 billion in just one month.
According to the U.S. Treasury, America’s national debt jumped from $36.215 trillion on July 3rd to $36.950 trillion on August 6th.
-->Over the next decade, the recent passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to add more than $3 trillion to the national debt, largely due to tax cuts, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The Trump administration has disputed the estimate.
While the U.S. Treasury Department has long operated a Pay.gov site that allows for donations to reduce the national debt, it appears that payment options via PayPal and Venmo were recently added in addition to the usual bank account or credit/debit card donation options.
Donors can make the different payment selections under “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt” on the pay.gov website.
The new payment options just garnered a lot of attention after NPR host Jack Corbett flagged them on the social media platform X.
Since 1996, data show the government has received just $67.3 million in gifts to reduce the debt, which measures what the US owes to its creditors. A year ago, the US national debt stood at $35.08 trillion.
