Summary
People can donate money through Venmo to help pay off the U.S. national debt, but it is unlikely to make a noticeable impact. The program allowing these gifts has been around for a long time, but the debt is so large and grows so fast that individual donations, even large ones, don't make a significant difference.
Key Facts
- People can donate to the U.S. government to help reduce national debt using Venmo, among other payment methods.
- The U.S. Treasury Department has accepted these donations since 1996.
- As of now, people have donated $67.3 million in total.
- The U.S. national debt is $36.7 trillion and increases by about $55,000 every second.
- A Venmo donation form limits a single gift to $999,999.99.
- During a testing process, it took 1 minute and 20 seconds to make a donation, during which time the debt grew by $4.4 million.
- To cover the current debt, every person in the U.S. would need to donate around $100,000.
