Debt Ceiling

Here’s What Happens If Congress Fails to Raise the Debt Ceiling

By Michael Rainey

What happens if Congress fails to raise the debt limit? A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center examines that question in detail, and the results aren’t pretty. Here are some highlights — or...
Why Raising the Debt Ceiling Won’t Be a Problem This Year

By Rob Garver

The final wall of resistance to a “clean” increase of the federal debt ceiling, necessary to avoid a potentially catastrophic government default later this year, appears to have fallen, with White...
Top GOP Conservative: We Won’t Play Around With the Debt Ceiling

By Rob Garver

When it comes to the perennial fight to raise the federal debt ceiling, it’s usually best to assume that the struggle to give the Treasury Department clearance to actually pay the debts that the...
Raise the Debt Ceiling Now, or Face Another Post-Summer Crisis: Meadows

By Eric Pianin

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, one of the most influential conservatives in the House, said Monday he favors quick action this summer to raise the debt ceiling, taking a stand on an issue that is...
Here’s a Solution for the Annual Debt Ceiling Crisis: Get Rid of It

By Eric Pianin

With another debt ceiling crisis looming that threatens a first-ever default by the Treasury and another government shutdown, there is a growing school of thought in the Senate that lawmakers should...

The National Debt Is a Bigger Problem Than You Think

By Lawrence Goodman

The U.S. debt situation is worse than commonly realized. Unaddressed, the surge in Treasury borrowing over the last 10 years represents an accident in the offing.
Mulvaney’s Debt Ceiling Ploy Protects Treasurys, Not Social Security Checks

By Rob Garver

The Trump administration appears to be considering a plan to pay some government debts but not others if the debt ceiling isn’t raised on time. It’s a plan economists and financial markets experts...
White House’s Debt Ceiling Battle Could Trigger a Shutdown — and a Recession

By Eric Pianin

At a time when worldwide confidence in the U.S. has already been badly shaken by President Trump’s go-it-alone, “America First” approach to trade, NATO and climate change, a White House riven by...
New Debt Ceiling Deadline Could Ruin Lawmakers' Summer Vacations

By Rob Garver

The federal debt limit, previously thought to be an issue that could be postponed to the fall, may need to be raised prior to the August recess, complicating the lives of top Republicans in Congress.
The Great Risk Shift Is Back

By Mark Thoma

The vote in the House of Representatives to dismantle Obamacare was not the only attempt to undo key legislation from the Obama years that occurred last Thursday.

How Congress Became an Incompetent Bureaucracy

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

In recent years, ideology, especially right-wing ideology, has been the dominant factor in congressional elections. But historically this has not been the case. Voters mostly looked for simple...
The Real Brains behind the Shutdown Deal: Women

By Eric Pianin

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are getting much of the credit for forging the deal to end the government shutdown and avoid a first ever default of U.S...
Four Lessons from the GOP Shutdown Wars

By Edward Morrissey

After weeks of extended brinksmanship over the debt ceiling and Obamacare and fifteen days of partial government shutdown, the smoke may be clearing. Congress appears ready to pass a bipartisan bill...
8 Sweeteners That Sealed the Shutdown Deal

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

Whenever Congress takes up major legislation, lawmakers just can’t resist tossing in scores of extra ‘sweeteners’ to help their states or allies. That was certainly the case Wednesday night, when the...
Sequester: The Next Big Battle for Congress

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained his major budget goal on Wednesday: Continue to cut government spending. In announcing a bipartisan deal to reopen the government and raise the...

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