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US Hits Debt Ceiling, By: Ben Welch    2-13-23
Washington is getting ready up for another big fight over whether to raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit. The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress on Thursday, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking measures to keep the government paying its bills and escalating pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a fatal default. There’s no denying the size of the debt is alarming, and not just because $31 trillion-plus is a very large figureÂ
The United States borrows huge sums of money by selling Treasury bonds to investors across the globe and uses those funds to pay existing financial obligations, including military salaries, safety net benefits and interest on the national debt. Once the United States hits the cap, Treasury begins using “extraordinary measures” —nytimes.comÂ
suspending some investments and exchanging different types of debt to try to stay beneath the cap for as long as possible. But eventually, the United States will need to either borrow more money to pay its bills or stop making good on its financial obligations, including possibly defaulting on its debt.
The battle lines for the high-stakes fight have already been set. Hardline Republicans, who have enormous sway in the House because of the party’s slim majority, have demanded that lifting the borrowing cap be tied to spending reductions.-CNNÂ
The White House countered that it will not offer any concessions or negotiate on raising the debt ceiling. Also with the solution to the debt ceiling drama squarely in lawmakers’ hands, fears are growing that the partisan brinksmanship could result in the nation defaulting on its debt for the first time ever or coming dangerously close to doing so.
Republicans now control the House and they have adopted new rules governing legislation that make it more difficult to raise the debt limit and strengthen Republicans’ ability to demand that any increase be accompanied by spending cuts. Senate Republicans have also insisted that increases to the debt limit should be tied to structural spending reform.
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