National Debt Cap Will Need to Rise, Treasury Predicts

08/05/2009 • Washington Post

Congress will be forced to raise the legal limit on the nation's credit card sometime later this year, Treasury officials reported Wednesday, focusing additional attention on the expanding national debt just as lawmakers expect to be putting the finishing touches on President Obama's trillion-dollar overhaul of the nation's health care system. The amount the government may borrow from the public, including foreign creditors, is limited by law to $12.1 trillion, a cap that has been raised several times since the nation slipped into recession in December 2007. Treasury officials predicted this week that they expect to borrow an additional $892 billion through the end of the year, driving the overall debt past the cap sometime in the fourth quarter. "Given the uncertainty surrounding potential borrowing needs, Treasury will continue to keep Congress and financial market participants apprised of developments as the debt outstanding approaches the statutory limit," T