Did Congress just neuter the debt ceiling?

The Default Prevention Act that Obama just signed has a murky, provocative clause giving hope to debt ceiling haters

Mitch McConnell
(Image credit: (Win McNamee/Getty Images))

"Did Congress just kill the debt ceiling?" asks Annie Lowrey at The New York Times. The short answer (spoiler alert) is no, probably not. But a provision of the Default Prevention Act, passed by Congress Wednesday night and signed by President Obama soon after, is causing a lot of confusion.

First of all, Congress didn't authorize raising the debt ceiling — it suspended it entirely. Under a clause called the "McConnell rule," first proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2011, the Treasury department can borrow as much as it needs until Feb. 7, but Congress gets a shot at blocking the debt limit within 22 days, if it chooses. (The relevant language starts on page 24.)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.