INSIGHTi

Debt Limit Suspensions
Updated December 27, 2021
From 2013 until 2019, Congress chose to suspend the statutory limit on the amount of federal debt
outstanding for set periods of time, rather than increase the limit by a dollar amount. On October 14,
2021, however, Congress chose to increase the debt limit by the fixed amount of $480 billion. On
December 16, 2021, another act increased the debt limit by $2.5 trillion. Debt limit suspension acts, by
contrast, are silent on dollar amounts.
A suspension defines a minimum interval before Congress is compelled to address the debt limit again.
Once the suspension ends, the debt limit is reset to accommodate the increase in federal debt during the
suspension period. The U.S. Treasury, with the help of “extraordinary measures,” can pay federal
financial obligations for some time after a suspension ends, allowing Congress more time to consider how
to address the debt limit before Treasury’s capacity to pay is exhausted.
Treasury Secretary’s Authority to Invoke Extraordinary Measures
Congress provided the Treasury Secretary with the statutory authority (5 U.S.C. §8348(j)) to invoke
extraordinary measures; that is, special strategies to handle cash and debt management. The Treasury
Secretary may declare a “debt issuance suspension period” (DISP) when deposits in the form of special
Treasury securities into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) cannot be issued
without causing the federal debt to exceed its limit. Treasury Secretaries have declared DISPs the business
day after a debt limit suspension lapses. During a DISP, the U.S. Treasury can use financial resources
from certain civil service and postal service retirement funds to meet federal obligations.
Treasury Secretary Yellen declared a DISP on August 2, 2021, after the most recent debt limit suspension
lapsed. On October 18, 2021, after the October 14 $480 billion increase in the limit, she notified Congress
that the DISP would be extended to early December 2021. The DISP was extended again until December
16, 2021, when the latest debt limit increase was enacted.
Once a DISP is declared, the length of time Treasury can meet federal financial obligations depends on its
cash balances, the extent of funds available via extraordinary measures, and the timing of federal
revenues and payments—when taxes are collected and when outlays are paid. For example, a DISP that
includes April will benefit from individual income tax payments. The timing of redemption and issuances
of special Treasury securities to various federal trust funds matters as well.
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The law that authorizes the Treasury Secretary to declare a DISP also requires that “the Secretary of the
Treasury shall immediately issue” amounts to replenish those funds once a DISP is over. The Treasury
Secretary is also obliged to report to Congress on how extraordinary measures were used.
Debt Limit Suspensions
Table 1 lists laws that have suspended the debt limit. The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), which set
the fiscal framework for the following decade, is also listed. Among other provisions, the BCA set
statutory caps on discretionary spending for FY2012-FY2021. Congress, however, determined that those
caps required adjustment to accommodate higher defense and nondefense spending levels. A series of
Bipartisan Budget Acts, each of which addressed a broad range of budgetary issues, was enacted to adjust
those caps upward, thus providing a convenient legislative vehicle for debt limit suspensions. The debt
limit was also suspended in continuing appropriations acts for FY2014 and FY2018.
Table 1. Debt Limit Suspensions and the Budget Control Act of 2011
Debt Limit
Act
Measure
Public Law Enactment Date
Suspended Through
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (BBA 2019)
H.R. 3877
P.L. 116-37
August 2, 2019
July 31, 2021
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018)
H.R. 1892
P.L. 115-123
February 9, 2018
March 1, 2019
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018
H.R. 601
P.L. 115-56
September 8, 2017
December 8, 2017
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA 2015)
H.R. 1314
P.L. 114-74
November 2, 2015
March 15, 2017
Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act
S. 540
P.L. 113-83
February 15, 2014
March 15, 2015
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014
H.R. 2775
P.L. 113-46
October 17, 2013
February 7, 2014
No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 (NBNPA)
H.R. 325
P.L. 113-3
February 4, 2013
May 18, 2013
Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA)
S. 365
P.L. 112-25
August 2, 2011
Allowed three increases
of set amounts
Source: Information compiled by CRS from Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 7.3.
Notes: BCA did not suspend the debt limit. The debt limit was increased three times under its provisions. The amount of
the third increase was subject to certain requirements.
Table 2 shows the duration of debt limit suspensions and DISPs. The use of suspensions results in a two-
step change in the debt limit. First, the debt limit is reset after each suspension lapse. Second, once
Treasury’s capacity to meet federal obligations has neared exhaustion, Congress then has acted either to
suspend the debt limit or, as in October and December 2021, to increase it.
Table 2 also shows the substantial variation over the past decade in the length of DISPs, which ranged
from 5 days to 231 days. Although Congress can suspend the debt limit until a specific date, determining
when another modification of the debt would be needed to avoid an exhaustion of Treasury’s financial
resources is not possible with any precision.
Table 2. Analysis of Debt Limit Suspensions and Debt Issuance Suspension Periods
New
Debt
New Debt
Date
Limit
Debt Limit
Limit After
Extraordinary
After
DISP
Debt
Act Raising or
Suspended
Suspension
Measures Invoked
New Act
Calendar
Change
Suspending Debt Limit
Through
$Billions
(DISP)
$Billions
Days
$Billions


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BBA 2019
July 31, 2021
31,381*
August 2, 2021
28,881
136*
2,980*


BBA 2018
March 1, 2019
21,988
March 4, 2019
22,286
151
299


Continuing
December 8, 2017
20,456
December 11, 2017
20,636
60
180


Appropriations Act, 2018
BBA 2015
March 15, 2017
19,809
March 16, 2017
20,130
176
321


Temporary Debt Limit
March 15, 2015
18,113
March 16, 2015
18,492
231
379


Extension Act
Continuing
February 7, 2014
17,212
February 10, 2014
17,337
5
126


Appropriations Act, 2014
NBNPA 2013
May 18, 2013
16,699
May 20, 2013
17,026
150
327


BCA


December 31, 2012
16,441
35
47


Source: Information compiled by CRS from U.S. Treasury and legislative data. *DISP length following the lapse of the BBA
2019 suspension is taken to end with enactment of P.L. 117-73 on December 16, 2021, although extraordinary measures
were reset after enactment of P.L. 117-50 on October 14, 2021. The change in debt in 2021 is the sum of the October
increase ($480 billion) and the December increase ($2.5 trillion).

Author Information

D. Andrew Austin

Analyst in Economic Policy




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