President-elect Trump and congressional Republicans are plotting how to address the nation\u2019s debt limit this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debt ceiling, which caps how much money the Treasury can owe to pay the country\u2019s bills, was reestablished earlier this month after being suspended for the past year and half. The national debt now stands at more than $36 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has called for Congress to move quickly to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. But internal rifts on spending and partisan divides could complicate the path forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a few possible scenarios Trump and Republicans have floated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker Mike Johnson\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-La.) said this month that Republicans are looking to tackle the debt ceiling as part of a massive reconciliation bill that would contain large pieces of Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The maneuver would allow the party to pass the legislation through the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing Democratic opposition \u2014 and taking away Democrats\u2019 leverage to extract concessions in exchange for votes to avoid a default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The intention is to handle the debt limit in reconciliation in the process, and that way, as the Republican Party, the party in charge of both chambers, we then get to determine the details of that,\u201d Johnson told reporters<\/u><\/a> last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf it runs through regular order or regular process and as a standalone, or as part of the appropriations, for example, then you have to have both parties negotiating, and we feel like we\u2019re in better stead to do it ourselves,\u201d he also said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Republicans are already hoping to use that complex maneuver to take on a growing wish list of items in areas like tax, border and energy to advance key parts of Trump\u2019s agenda as part of a major package. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But tacking on debt ceiling legislation to the growing wish list of items Republicans have floated including in the reconciliation bill could add to headaches when GOP leadership in the House tries to lock down support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson and House leaders are navigating a razor thin margin in the conference, where it can be difficult to get hardline conservatives on board with raising the debt limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump and House Republicans over the weekend discussed using a different legislative vehicle<\/u><\/a> to lift the debt ceiling, four sources told The Hill. They said Trump did not reveal his preferred strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congress is already staring down a mid-March deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded \u2014 and some lawmakers are already signaling openness to the idea of tackling the debt ceiling as part a broader deal to avert a shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members are hopeful that Congress will pass their 12 annual government funding bills for fiscal year 2025 by the March 14 cutoff date, but top appropriators say lack of a topline agreement is holding up progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The deadline comes about five months after Congress blew past the initial deadline to pass their fiscal 2025 funding bills in October \u2013 when fiscal year 2025 actually started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about the prospect of debt ceiling legislation being attached to an expected spending deal to avert a shutdown around spring, House Appropriation Chairman Tom Cole\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Okla.) didn\u2019t rule out the idea last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a problem for me, if that helps our leaders,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cI mean, you\u2019re more likely to get a bipartisan vote in a situation like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the deadly wildfires in California draw national attention, Johnson on Monday floated tying a debt limit increase to disaster aid for the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s some discussion about that, but we\u2019ll see where it goes,\u201d Johnson told reporters<\/u><\/a> when asked about debt limit legislation being a ridealong to a potential disaster aid package. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the stopgap passed last month, Congress passed more than $100 billion in disaster aid to support response efforts following Hurricane Milton and Helene, and other extreme weather events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has said it has enough resources to meet California\u2019s needs in wake of the blazes. But some early estimates have valued losses from the fires at more than $50 billion and it\u2019s likely Congress will have to take action this year on helping the state recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump previously called<\/u><\/a> for the abolishment of the debt ceiling \u2013 an idea that some Democrats have signaled openness to, though many Republicans have long opposed the thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarch funding showdown<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
California fire disaster aid<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
No more ceiling?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n