March 29, 2024
The debt ceiling would force the US into emergency cuts to avoid financial disaster

The debt ceiling would force the US into emergency cuts to avoid financial disaster

  • Natalie Sherman
  • From BBC News in New York

US Treasury Department

debt, Good pictures

photo caption,

The risk of the US hitting the debt ceiling is at its highest in years

The U.S. government has reached its statutory borrowing limit. The Treasury Department is taking steps to avoid a default that could be catastrophic for the U.S. economy.

Hitting the debt ceiling means the government is no longer allowed to borrow money — unless Congress agrees to suspend or change the debt ceiling, which currently stands at nearly $31.4 trillion.

That’s usually what happens.

Since 1960, politicians have raised, extended or revised the debt limit 78 times—including three in the past six months alone.