Debt Limit Suspensions
INSIGHTi
Debt Limit Suspensions
Updated November 14, 2023
From 2013 until 2019, and again in June 2023, 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. In October 2021, however, Congress chose to increase the debt limit by the fixed amount of $480
billion, and in December 2021, it increased the debt limit by $2.5 trillion to just under $31.4 trillion. Debt
limit suspensions, 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.
In late April 2023, the House passed H.R. 2811, which included a hybrid debt limit clause that would
suspend the limit until the end of March 2024, or until new debt subject to the limit would total $1.5
trillion. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA: P.L. 118-5) was enacted on June 3, 2023. The FRA
suspended the debt limit until January 1, 2025; reimposed statutory caps on discretionary spending; and
rescinded unobligated funds from various federal accounts.
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.
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.
Treasury Secretary Yellen declared a DISP on January 19, 2023. In May 2023, she notified Congress that
according to Treasury’s best estimate, it would become unable “to satisfy all of the government’s
obligations by early June” absent legislation to modify the debt limit. Previous projections suggested that
Treasury could probably meet obligations until July or even August. Individual income tax receipts in
April 2023, however, fell short of expectations. Subsequent private projections suggested that Treasury’s
resources in early June could have dipped to around $25 billion (Wrightson ICAP and Goldman Sachs
briefs available to congressional clients upon request). While Treasury might have been able to pay bills
until a June 15 tax deadline, CBO warned of a “significant risk” that Treasury might not be able to meet
all obligations on time. Enactment of the FRA, as noted above, resolved the episode by suspending the
debt limit through January 1, 2025.
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, adjusted 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
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
H.R. 3746
P.L. 118-5
June 3, 2023
January 1, 2025
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: The 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.
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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
Debt
New Debt
Date
New Debt
Change
Debt Limit
Limit After
Extraordinary
Limit After
DISP
During
Act Raising or
Suspended
Suspension
Measures
New Act
Calendar
DISP
Suspending Debt Limit
Through
$Billions
Invoked (DISP)
$Billions
Days
$Billions
FRA of 2023
January 1, 2025
—
—
—
—
—
BBA 2019
July 31, 2021
$28,401
August 2, 2021
$29,193*
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,
$20,636
60
$180
Appropriations Act, 2018
2017
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,
$17,337
5
$126
Appropriations Act, 2014
2014
NBNPA 2013
May 18, 2013
$16,699
May 20, 2013
$17,026
150
$327
BCA
—
—
December 31,
$16,441
35
$47
2012
Source: Information compiled by CRS from U.S. Treasury and legislative data. *DISP length fol owing 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 bil ion; P.L. 117-50) and the December increase ($2.5 tril ion; P.L. 117-73).
Author Information
D. Andrew Austin
Analyst in Economic Policy
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