The U.S. Has Hit The Debt Ceiling. How Long Does Congress Have To Fix It? | Global News Avenue

The government exceeded its borrowing limit on Donald Trump’s second day in office, leaving the new administration with an uncertain deadline on “X date” when the United States will no longer be able to pay its bills.

The U.S. government owed more than the $36.1 trillion it has legally borrowed on Tuesday, setting the stage for Congress and the White House to urgently address the debt problem before the country can’t pay its bills and trigger a financial crisis.

Outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to Congress that on Wednesday, the Treasury Department began taking “extraordinary measures” – essentially money laundering – that would create an impasse for the government in the U.S. Win some time before paying the bills. She did not estimate how much time these measures would save.

If the “X-Date” comes and disappears, the government will be entering uncharted territory, potentially defaulting on the national debt, making Social Security benefits unpayable, and facing other potentially serious financial and economic consequences.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a centrist think tank, said in comments that the debt ceiling schedule depends on unknown factors, including how much revenue the IRS will collect this tax season and how much the government has spent responding to recent California wildfires and other disasters.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think tank that promotes a balanced federal budget, estimated in comments that Date X could occur sometime in the spring or summer.

The debt ceiling has become a political flashpoint in recent years, with some lawmakers threatening to allow it to lapse in an effort to force concessions.

Past debt-ceiling showdowns have ended with it being raised or suspended for a period of time, leading to periodic conflicts. Economists say the United States may face a financial crisis, economic recession Millions of jobs lost If Congress fails to extend the debt ceiling in time.

Trump has called for the debt ceiling to be lifted entirely, eliminating the possibility of future showdowns over the debt ceiling, but now that Republicans control the House and Senate, rejected the idea As recently as December.