Treasury Department Now Accepts Venmo, PayPal Contributions To Pay Down National Debt

The U.S. Treasury Department is now accepting Venmo and PayPal contributions to help pay down the nation’s gargantuan $36.7 trillion debt.

“You can venmo the United States to help pay off the national debt,” NPR‘s Jack Corbett wrote.

The payment options to provide “gifts to reduce the public debt” include:

• Bank account (ACH)
• PayPal account
• Venmo account
• Debit or credit card

you can venmo the United States to help pay off the national debt pic.twitter.com/UBfSvbAIx0

— Jack Corbett (@jackcorrbit) July 23, 2025

The ability to donate towards the national debt isn’t a new idea.

It’s a little-known program the Treasury Department has had for nearly 30 years.

However, it hasn’t placed a dent in the debt.

“The program has collected $67.3 million over 29 years,” Fox Business noted.

No amount of donations would ever eclipse the pace of congressional spending.

Venmo, PayPal users can now send money to the US government to help pay down $36.7T national debt https://t.co/BzjTBimV2r pic.twitter.com/K2u8HpN3Tl

— New York Post (@nypost) July 25, 2025

Fox Business has more:

Even a generous donation is unlikely to make much of a difference, however. The $67.3 million given since 1996 only accounts for 20 minutes of debt, according to Axios.

The national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, rose to $36,721,531,033,603 Friday, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is up about $34.5 billion from the figure reported the previous day.

Forty years ago, the national debt was $907 billion.

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The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House.

It’s doubtful any amount of donations would ever make a difference towards the national debt.

Many have said the debt is unsustainable.

The U.S. national debt just passed $37 trillion dollars.
This is unsustainable.
Tick, tock. pic.twitter.com/KYIwaZaQXJ

— Natalie F Danelishen (@Chesschick01) June 20, 2025

More from The Guardian:

The federal government spent $6.75tn in Fiscal Year 2024 while collecting $4.92tn in revenue.

Highlights of past and present government spending include the $151bn procurement process for the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense project, over $2tn on Lockheed Martin’s long delayed F-35 fighter jet, and roughly $800bn in annual spending on the Pentagon, which recently failed its seventh audit in a row.

Kind-hearted Americans have gone above and beyond their regular tax-paying duties contributing around $67.3m since 1996. That’s enough to fund 20 minutes of the US government’s spending habit.

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If Americans could dig into their couch cushions, eat less takeout, and tighten their belts, they might be able to tackle the problem once and for all. It would only take about $107,000 per person, payable via ACH, Paypal, credit or debit card, and now, Venmo.

My take?

I’m with Boebert on this one:

We should be ashamed to even have a donation button for the US Treasury when we’re taxing people at darn near 50% every single year and still can’t reduce the debt.

We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. And a MASSIVE one. https://t.co/USHrNX9By6

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) July 26, 2025

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