Credit Arbiters Say U.S. Resilient as Politics Cloud Debt Debate
- Fitch, Moody’s and S&P all foresee no credit-rating change
- System of checks and balances seen as key to strength
QuickTake: The U.S. Debt Ceiling and Pres. Trump
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Lost amid the political chaos swirling around the Trump administration is the failure of Congress to authorize an increase in the nation’s ability to borrow.
As partisan fighting over the administration’s links to Russia escalates, lawmakers have yet to craft legislation that lifts the debt ceiling following the March expiration of a 2015 pact to suspend the threshold. Since then the Treasury Department has used what it calls “extraordinary measures,” such as deferring payments to federal retirement accounts, to avoid breaching the cap. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Congress will raise the limit, yet he hasn’t indicated when.