The U.S. has seen three Republican and three Democratic administrations since the 1980s, but no matter who is in the White House, U.S. debt has been rising steadily throughout the years, also expanding the debt ceiling in the process.
Currently, Congress is once more called upon to raise the amount of debt the country can take on or at least temporarily suspend the debt ceiling mechanism, which says that the Treasury Department is not allowed to go into debt beyond a certain limit unless explicitly authorized by lawmakers. A previous suspension expired on July 31, increasing the debt ceiling to a de-facto $28.5 trillion, the amount of government debt at that time. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that under the present circumstances, her department would run out of money in October.
Despite Democrats and Republicans equally expanding debt while in office, the necessary raising of the debt ceiling is routinely causing a fair share of debate – often stretching until the last minute of the country’s solvency. While Democrats have floated another temporary suspension of the limit, Republicans said that the party would not have the GOP’s support in such a vote. Republicans are blocking the effort in protest of the current administration’s $3.5 trillion budget plan, while Democrats point the finger at Trump era tax cuts that contributed to the need for new debt. Read more…