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.

More Outrages in Government Waste

By Jacqueline Leo

How would you feel if half the tax dollars you paid the federal government each year were thrown away? That's essentially what happens when approximately $750 billion (or more) is spent every year on...
Two Year Budget Deal Passes in the House

By Kelsey Snell, The Washington Post

Congress on Wednesday moved a step closer to clearing a bipartisan budget deal that would boost spending for domestic and defense programs over two years while suspending the debt limit into 2017...
Boehner’s Last Stand — A Budget Deal That Raises the Debt Ceiling

By Martin Matishak and Eric Pianin

With only days left in office, House Speaker John Boehner just might make good on his pledge to “clear up the barn” for his likely successor, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), and spare Ryan a potentially ugly...
As Debt Limit Approaches, Cracks Appear in Nation’s Finances

By Rob Garver

The November 3 date the Treasury Department has set for when the country will start having to prioritize its bill suggests that everything will be just fine so long as Congress raises the debt...
House GOP Hatches Harebrained Debt Ceiling Fix

By Rob Garver

With the government on the edge of fiscal crisis, House Republicans are floating a scheme to allow the government to claim – in the narrowest possible technical sense – that when it stops making...

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