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US Again Facing Deadline to Increase Borrowing Limit

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - The White House and Congress are engagedin tough,
   down-to-the-wire negotiations over raising the U.S. government's
   borrowing limit and agreeing to new spending levels for as long as the
   coming two years.

   President Donald Trump's latest tweetstorm against four Democratic
   progressive lawmakers and the early stages of the 2020 presidential
   election campaign are grabbing the headlines in Washington. But the
   outcome of behind-the-scenes discussions between Treasury Secretary
   Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the country's debt
   ceiling -- its cap on borrowing to run the government -- and the 2020
   budget could prove more consequential.

   Agreement on a new debt ceiling and a deal on a new two-year spending
   plan beginning in October could take both issues off the table ahead of
   Trump's November 2020 re-election bid and Democratic efforts to oust
   him after a single term in the White House.

   The century-old debt ceiling is a legal cap on the amount of money the
   government can borrow to cover revenue shortages. In March, the debt
   limit expired and the debt now totals $22.5 trillion.

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