debt ceiling

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republicans in Congress have raised the prospect of using the debt limit to force Democrats to the negotiating table on spending cuts. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. likely to default on debt between July and September unless Congress acts, CBO says

BY: - February 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress has until at least July to broker a bipartisan debt agreement if lawmakers want to avoid a first-ever default, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The nonpartisan scorekeeper, which typically details how much legislation would cost, released a report Wednesday saying that U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration have until sometime between […]

President Joe Biden speaks

Biden in State of the Union address draws boos and shouts from a combative GOP

BY: and - February 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bipartisan priorities, but later criticized parts of the GOP agenda and got a sense of Republicans’ appetite for conflict during one combative stretch. Biden opened the 72-minute speech with an […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republicans in Congress have raised the prospect of using the debt limit to force Democrats to the negotiating table on spending cuts. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. House speaker calls for ‘responsible’ debt limit legislation, shares few details

BY: - February 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday said the greatest threat to the nation’s future is the rising national debt, though he gave few specifics for how he planned to lower deficit spending or avoid a first-ever default on the debt this year.  The California Republican, in a 10-minute address from the U.S. […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy answers questions from reporters at the U.S. Capitol about debt limit talks at the White House, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Biden, McCarthy hold ‘productive’ and ‘frank’ debt limit talks as fiscal cliffs loom

BY: - February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy huddled behind closed doors at the White House on Wednesday in the first of what will likely be several conversations as the country approaches two fiscal cliffs this year amid divided government.  The top issue at the moment is when and how to address […]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gives a speech on the economy at Fords Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on September 8, 2022 in Dearborn, Michigan.

U.S. to hit debt limit much sooner than expected, thrusting Congress into showdown

BY: - January 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will hit its borrowing limit next week, forcing the new, divided Congress into negotiations over the debt limit much sooner than expected, though a potential date for the nation to default isn’t expected until this summer. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to Congress on Friday afternoon, telling leaders the United […]