WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - The latest standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, resolved just days before the government faced a devastating default, has prompted some to call for the country to ditch its self-imposed borrowing limit.That's not likely to happen any time soon.Though the showdown unnerved investors and prompted threats of a second U.S. debt downgrade in a little over a decade, proposals to abolish the debt ceiling have gained little traction in Congress in recent years.Republicans have shown no interest in abandoning a point of leverage that they...
May 28 (Reuters) - Global investors are gaming out how a tentative deal to raise the United States debt ceiling could ripple through markets, as lawmakers strive to pass the agreement through Congress before a June 5 deadline.A deal to lift the $31.4 trillion debt limit announced by the White House and House Republicans late Saturday would avert a catastrophic U.S. default and boost overall appetite for risk, while also buoying some of the sectors that have been left behind in this year’s tech-led rally, such as cyclical stocks and...
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The central pillar of any debt-ceiling agreement between President Joe Biden and House Republican Kevin McCarthy is shaping up to be "discretionary spending" - the chunk of the United States' roughly $6 trillion annual federal budget that is set annually by Congress.Talks are fluid as Biden and McCarthy work towards a deal to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a default as soon as June 1. But cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs that eat up most of the U.S. budget are...