US set to hit debt ceiling within four months, CBO estimates
Thomas Catenacci, DCNF
The federal government is on track to reach the statutory debt limit in the fall, which would trigger a government shutdown, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate.
The U.S. is projected to reach the debt ceiling of $28.5 trillion by October or November, a CBO report released Wednesday stated. If Capitol Hill lawmakers don’t reach an agreement on raising the limit higher, the government could undergo its third shutdown in less than four years.
“If the debt limit remained unchanged, the ability to borrow using those measures would ultimately be exhausted, and the Treasury would probably run out of cash sometime in the first quarter of the next fiscal year (which begins on October 1, 2021), most likely in October or November,” the CBO report said.
“If that occurred, the government would be unable to pay its obligations fully, and it would delay making payments for its activities, default on its debt obligations, or both,” it continued.
The impending deadline gives Democrats and Republicans just a few months to reach an agreement on increasing the ceiling and cutting spending, Reuters reported. But Republican leaders have recently signaled that raising the debt ceiling is off the table.
“I can’t imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we’ve been experiencing,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell old punchbowl News on Tuesday evening.
