United States debt ceiling

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In the United States, the debt ceiling is a law limiting the total amount of money the federal government can borrow. Since 2025, the debt ceiling is $41.1 trillion after being raised by $5 trillion through the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA). The debt ceiling is expected to breach by 2027. The U.S. government has borrowed to finance its budget since 2002, running a structural budget deficit. The ceiling does not directly limit the size of the budget deficit but rather the total national debt the U.S. is able to borrow. The debt ceiling is an aggregate figure that applies to gross debt, which includes debt in the hands of the public and intra-government accounts. The debt ceiling was enacted in 1917 to control government borrowing. There is debate about whether the debt ceiling is constitutional with scholars questioning its legal authority and mechanisms to repay its debt. When the debt ceiling is approached or hit, the U.S. Treasury must resort to "extraordinary measures" to temporarily...

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