Time to panic about the debt ceiling?

The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web

The Capitol.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images)

The federal government hit the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling this week, forcing the Treasury Department to resort to what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said were "extraordinary measures" necessary for the government to continue paying its bills. But the measures, which include suspending investments for some government accounts, will only buy about five months. As early as June, the Treasury Department will run out of ways to cover some of the government's obligations to bondholders, Social Security recipients, and other spending already approved by Congress, unless sharply divided lawmakers come together to raise the ceiling and let the government borrow more.

But that won't be easy. The new Republican House majority opposes raising the debt ceiling without deep spending cuts, while Democrats, who control the Senate, say they won't let the GOP use the deadline as leverage to slash federal programs. "We will not be doing any negotiation," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The government has faced the threat of a catastrophic debt default before, and the two sides always came together in time. Can Republicans and Democrats work this out before the government runs short of money, or could this be the year the worst happens?

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.