Biden Signs Government Debt Ceiling Bill... Default Avoided Until Early December

President Joe Biden of the United States [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill to increase the federal government's debt ceiling by $480 billion (approximately 570 trillion won), AP News reported on the 14th (local time).

With this signing, the U.S. government's borrowing limit will rise from the current $28.4 trillion to about $28.9 trillion. This increased limit allows the U.S. government to avoid a default for the time being. The U.S. Congress had intense debates over raising the debt ceiling, with the Senate passing the amendment on the 7th and the House of Representatives approving it on the 14th.

The U.S. Treasury Department warned that failure to raise the debt ceiling could have led to a default on debt maturing on the 18th. This measure is temporarily applied until December 3rd, and the U.S. government and Congress must devise a plan within this period.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties remain sharply divided over the debt ceiling increase.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated in a letter to President Biden after the Senate vote that he would no longer assist the Democrats regarding the debt ceiling increase. The Republicans argue that the debt ceiling increase is necessary to fund Biden's pledged $3.5 trillion expansion of social services and climate change measures, pointing to this as a Democratic issue.

On the other hand, the Democrats emphasize that the cause lies in the significant increase in debt due to the large-scale tax cuts during the Trump administration, which led to previous debt ceiling hikes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.