U.S. government hits debt ceiling, prompts Treasury action

The United States hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling Thursday, forcing the Treasury Department to take “extraordinary measures” to keep the government running. Those measures include selling existing investments and suspending fund reinvestments, which will reduce the amount of outstanding debt and allow the treasury to continue paying bills. Lawmakers have until June 5 to resolve the issue—or risk defaulting on the national debt for the first time ever.

Why is this causing political division? A number of Republican leaders say they will not lift the borrowing limit unless the government commits to spending reductions. The White House has said that it will not offer any such concessions or negotiate on raising the debt ceiling. Congress has raised the debt cap about 80 times since the 1960s, most recently in December 2021. 

Dig deeper: Read Jerry Bowyer’s column in WORLD Opinions about investors’ no-confidence vote in the U.S. economy in 2023.