Trump called to eliminate the debt ceiling: "I agree with Elizabeth Warren"
On his Truth Social account, the president assured that the measure would be to "avoid an economic catastrophe."
President Trump in Pennsylvania/ Saul Loeb
Donald Trump called for eliminating the debt ceiling. Amid debate over his mega-bill in the Senate and its fiscal cost, the president proposed the measure to "avoid an economic catastrophe." He did so through his Truth Social account, where he claimed to agree with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
The publication came days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to raise the ceiling in July to avoid a default. Otherwise, Bessent warned that the country would have to resort to "extraordinary measures." Exhausted these measures, the country may default.
In 2023, Joe Biden negotiated with Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling, preventing the country from defaulting. The Democratic president and the Californian suspended the ceiling discussion until 2025. Now, Trump's proposal is to directly eliminate that limit.
"I am very pleased to announce that, after all of these years, I agree with Senator Elizabeth Warren on SOMETHING. The Debt Limit should be entirely scrapped to prevent an Economic catastrophe. It is too devastating to be put in the hands of political people that may want to use it despite the horrendous effect it could have on our Country and, indirectly, even the World," the president said on his Truth Social account.
What is the debt ceiling?
In this context, Congress passed the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917, which allowed the Treasury Department to issue debt without approval, giving it more flexibility in times of war. This fell within an overall limit, known as the debt ceiling.
Technically speaking, this is the legal limit imposed by the U.S. Congress on the total amount of money the federal government can borrow to meet its existing financial obligations.
Since its inception, the ceiling has been raised some 100 times. All with the same goal: to avoid a default.
In 2023, McCarthy and congressional Republicans demanded spending cuts in exchange for accompanying the ceiling increase, resulting in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Among other things, the legislation suspended the ceiling until January 2025, extended work requirements for SNAP recipients, and guaranteed budget cuts.
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