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.

Defunding Obamacare: GOP Hits the Self Destruct Button

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

House Republicans finally pulled the pin in a budgetary grenade, voting Friday to defund Obamacare as part of an emergency measure to keep the government running through mid-December. The question is...
Gov't Shutdown: The GOP’s Last Stand on Obamacare

By Eric Pianin and Brianna Ehley

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the newly minted White House budget director, was among the few administration officials bullish that President Obama and congressional Republicans could somehow overcome...
Bernanke Protects U.S. from a Contentious Congress

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is afraid the bickering between Congress and President Obama could easily wreck the economy. With the White House and Capitol Hill on a collision course over the...
Business Boondoggle: Shedding the Cost of Health Care

By Edward Morrissey

The White House has tried to keep its chin up in the face of ever-increasing hostility to the Affordable Care Act. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama laughed off the concerns of Americans that have...
Budget Brawl Could Sideswipe Fed Plans to Taper

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

The Federal Reserve appears ready to tap the brakes on its monthly $85 billion bond-buying program, even though the jobs picture still looks dismal and an upcoming federal budget showdown could...

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