If you will pull a dollar bill out and take a look at it, you will notice that it says "Federal Reserve Note" at the top.
It belongs to the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. government cannot simply go out and create new money whenever it wants under our current system.
Instead, it must get it from the Federal Reserve.
So, when the U.S. government needs to borrow more money (which happens a lot these days) it goes over to the Federal Reserve and asks them for some more green pieces of paper called Federal Reserve Notes.
The Federal Reserve swaps these green pieces of paper for pink pieces of paper called U.S. Treasury bonds. The Federal Reserve either sells these U.S. Treasury bonds or they keep the bonds for themselves (which happens a lot these days).
It Is Now Mathematically Impossible To Pay Off The U.S. National Debt
Firstly, the Federal Reserve
is part of the government. It's board of governors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the senate.
Second, if the government wants to borrow money, it sells treasuries to the public. The Federal Reserve is not allowed to extend credit to the US Government.
FRB: Federal Reserve Act: Section 13
FRB: Federal Reserve Act. Section 14
Those are the sections of the Federal Reserve Act outlining the powers the Fed has to buy and discount securities. They can only discount (give a loan using a security as collateral) to member banks, but in "unusual and exigent circumstances" may discount to individuals and non-banks subject to a bunch of shit. They can buy treasury securities in open market operations but they're only allowed to buy them in the open market (hence
open market operations). They can't buy bonds directly from the government. Nor does the government care, because the treasury market is the deepest and most liquid in the world. Everybody wants to buy treasuries.
Yes it says "Federal Reserve Note" because it's a liability of the Federal Reserve. It's actually the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Treasury) that actually prints the money, but the Fed has control over the supply of money.
So yeah, the government borrows from the public, not the Fed. The Fed engages in open market operations and gives the interest it earns to the government. I've given you more than sufficient evidence.