Washington Update - Debt Ceiling: Deja Vu All Over Again?

Last fall, when the government faced the double crises of no appropriations and hitting the debt limit, Congress passed the Continuing Appropriations Act, which temporarily suspended the statutory debt limit through Feb. 7, 2014. After that date, the statutory debt limit was reinstated at the amount necessary to encompass all federal borrowing to that date, which is estimated to be about $17.3 trillion. That amount is composed roughly of $12.3 trillion in debt held by the public and $5 trillion in debt held by government accounts.

FEBRUARY 11, 2014  

As expected, on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew notified Speaker of the House Boehner that Congress must raise the debt ceiling by Feb. 27, or the Treasury would be left "with only cash on hand and any incoming revenue to meet our country's commitments." In other words, the country risks default. It is estimated that the United States would have just $50 billion cash on hand, but also noted that