USAFacts is a nonprofit organization that collects, contextualizes, and publishes official U.S. government data. ¹ It was founded and is entirely funded by former Microsoft CEO and major left-of-center donor Steve Ballmer. ¹

Founding and Leadership

The USAFacts Institute was incorporated in March 2016 in Delaware as a nonprofit, nonstock corporation. ^{2 3} It describes itself as a “not-for-profit” but has not requested a nonprofit tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service. ¹

Its founder and only known funder is Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest men. ⁴ Ballmer is also the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team and is a regular donor to largely left-of-center causes through his and his wife’s Ballmer Group philanthropy. ⁵

USAFacts president Poppy MacDonald is the former president of Politico USA. ⁶ She had also previously worked at National Journal and Gallup. ⁶

Operations

USAFacts explains its process as finding, cleaning, analyzing, visualizing, contextualizing, and publishing government data. ⁷

Its first project was an effort to create the equivalent of corporate annual “10-K” reports for the U.S. federal government. ^{8 4}  It still publishes that report on an annual basis, as well as an annual “State of the Union in Numbers” report timed for the annual presidential State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress. ⁹

USAFacts produces detailed breakdowns and visualizations of federal government agencies’ revenues and spending. ¹⁰ In addition to department-by-department data breakdowns, it also publishes what it describes as “Data-Driven Guides” on topics such as immigration, housing, health care, criminal justice, and firearms policy. ¹¹

All USAFacts content is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 public license, meaning that anyone can republish it for free if USAFacts is credited as the source. ²

Advocacy

USAFacts claims not to engage in partisan or issue-based advocacy, saying that “No one at USAFacts is trying to convince you of anything. The only opinion we have is that government data should be easier to access.” ⁷ Its president, Poppy MacDonald, has said, “We want to be that definitive source so we can answer any questions Americans have about what’s happening in their country.” ⁶

Similarly, Ballmer has said “We’re trying to arm the American public with the information to do their jobs as citizens,” and “We don’t pick sides.” ⁴

USAFacts regularly criticizes federal accounting practices, arguing that often multi-year delays in publishing data can interfere with data-driven advocacy efforts and lead to poor public policy decisions. ⁸

In 2025 following the inauguration of the second Trump administration, USAFacts launched a weekly email “Decoding DOGE” newsletter focused on “developments at the Department of Government Efficiency and how they could impact spending at federal agencies.” ¹²

2024 Elections

During the 2024 U.S. federal election cycle, USAFacts produced a six-part series of 15-minute videos titled “Just the Facts with Steve Ballmer” that it promoted online and paid to air on television stations during largely late-night hours. ^{13 14} The episode topics were immigration, the federal budget, the economy, energy and the environment, health and healthcare, and “America by the Numbers.” ¹³ USAFacts claimed that more than 65 million people watched at least some of the series before the November 2024 election. ¹³

Funding

USAFacts does not solicit or accept grants or donations. Instead, it is funded by Ballmer’s personal fortune. He reportedly spends between $10 million and $20 million per year supporting the initiative, increasing to $40 million in 2024. ¹⁵

1. “FAQ.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/faq/.
2. “Terms and Conditions.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/terms-and-conditions/.
3. “Corporation Search: File #5988089.” Delaware Division of Corporations, March 11, 2016. https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx.v
4. Aratani, Lauren. “‘Arm the Public with Facts’: Microsoft Billionaire Fights Us Election Disinformation.” The Guardian, September 13, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/steve-ballmer-usafacts.
5. “Grantees Supporting Racial Equity in Predominantly Black Communities.” Ballmer Group. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20220309061910/https://www.ballmergroup.org/news/black-lives-matter
6. Mastrangelo, Dominick. “‘Just the Facts’: Seeking to Provide the Public with the Government Data They Need.” The Hill, September 18, 2024. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4884510-usa-facts-poppy-macdonald-government-data-2024-election/.
7.  “About.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/about-usafacts/.
8. “2020 Government 10-K.” USAFacts, December 20, 2023. https://usafacts.org/reports/2020/government-10-k/#a-letter-to-our-countrys-shareholders.
9. “State of the Union: In Numbers 2025.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/reports/state-of-the-union/.
10. “US Government Finance Statistics, Charts, and Trends.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/government-spending/.
11. “Guides and Reports.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/guides-and-reports/.
12. “Decoding DOGE.” USAFacts. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://usafacts.org/signup/decoding-doge/.
13. “More than 65 Million People Watched ‘Just the Facts with Steve Ballmer’ before Heading to the Polls.” PR Newswire, February 27, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/more-than-65-million-people-watched-just-the-facts-with-steve-ballmer-before-heading-to-the-polls-302387374.html.
14. Pandey, Erica. “Steve Ballmer Rolls out PSA Videos on 2024 Issues.” Axios, August 1, 2024. https://www.axios.com/2024/08/01/steve-ballmer-rolls-out-psa-videos-on-2024-issues.
15. Gairola, Ananya. “Steve Ballmer Is Betting $40m on Facts as Heated Trump-Harris Battle Reaches Peak Crescendo – How Ex-Microsoft CEO Aims to Rescue American Democracy with Data.” Benzinga, November 4, 2024. https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/11/41704893/steve-ballmer-is-betting-40m-on-facts-as-heated-trump-harris-battle-reaches-peak-crescendo-how-ex-mi.