debt ceiling
Federal borrowing limit
A debt ceiling is a legislative limit on how much money a government can borrow.
In the United States, Congress sets this cap, and raising it becomes a recurring political battle: Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling to avoid default.
The ceiling limits borrowing, not spending—hitting it doesn't reduce the debt but prevents paying existing obligations.
Amount still owed
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- government spendingState allocation of funds
- budget deficitSpending exceeding revenue
- interest paymentsMoney owed for borrowing
creditors · fiscal responsibility · balanced budget · austerity · entitlements · mandatory spending · discretionary spending · revenue
Preset standard option
- government shutdownCessation of federal operations
- brinkmanshipPushing conflicts to disaster's threshold
- downgradeReduce in status
- credit ratingAssigned measure of borrower reliability
standoff · impasse · deadline · negotiation · eleventh hour · uncertainty · S&P · extraordinary measures
U.S. lawmaking body
- appropriationsDesignated funds for purposes
- authorizationFormal permission granted
- bipartisanInvolving both major parties
- HouseBuilding for habitation
Senate · reconciliation · filibuster · cloture · amendment · vote · majority · clean bill
deficit
Amount still owed
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- government spendingState allocation of funds
- budget deficitSpending exceeding revenue
interest payments · creditors · fiscal responsibility · balanced budget · austerity · entitlements · mandatory spending · discretionary spending · revenue · taxation
default
Preset standard option
- government shutdownCessation of federal operations
- brinkmanshipPushing conflicts to disaster's threshold
- downgradeReduce in status
credit rating · standoff · impasse · deadline · negotiation · eleventh hour · uncertainty · S&P · extraordinary measures · catastrophic
Congress
U.S. lawmaking body
- appropriationsDesignated funds for purposes
- authorizationFormal permission granted
- bipartisanInvolving both major parties
House · Senate · reconciliation · filibuster · cloture · amendment · vote · majority · clean bill · suspension
- fiscal crisisfiscal crisis, fiscal emergency, insolvency, budget deficit, bankruptcy protection
- debtcreditor, owe, lender, unpaid, borrower
- limitslimit, limits, limitation, upper limit, lower limit
- Congresssenator, representative, senators, House, bill
- economic policymonetary policy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal stimulus, fiscal restraint
- 2023 headlinesOppenheimer, ChatGPT, Barbenheimer, heat waves, inflation
debt ceilingsurplus
Amount exceeding requirement
budget surplus · tax revenue · balanced budget · rainy day fund · tax increase