1/19/23 - The U.S. Is Expected To Hit Its "Debt Ceiling"

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to Congress last week urging them to raise the limit before the expected deadline.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is hitting its debt limit today and it will require the Treasury Department to find ways to pay the bills.

There are special financial tools that can be used to extended to pay the debt.  They can extend until early June and Congress will need to act to prevent default.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says using the extraordinary measures enables the government to meet its obligations for just a limited time. Failure to come up with an agreement would impact global financial stability.   

Without a higher ceiling, the government would have to default on bills already incurred that it has already committed to pay.

Even the threat of default could cause an economic downturn.  That occurred in 2011 when the country's credit rating dropped as a result of the drawn-out debt ceiling debate.

The national debt is nearly $31 Trillion dollars.

The U.S. has raised the debt limit 78 times since 1960.