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1 1 (February 27, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govygd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ~.Research Service Extraordinary Measures and the Debt Limit Updated February 27, 2019 Following a period of suspension, the statutory debt limit is scheduled to be reinstated on March 1, 2019, at a level that precisely accommodates the federal borrowing undertaken to date. When federal borrowing approaches the debt limit, the Treasury Secretary has the authority to implement extraordinary measures that delay when the debt limit will bind. Extraordinary measures were last implemented from March 2017 through September 2017 and from December 2017 through February 2018, until passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018; P.L. 115-123; February 9, 2018) suspended the statutory debt limit until March 1, 2019. This Insight briefly examines the use of extraordinary measures and its subsequent effects on federal debt activity. What Is the Debt Limit? As part of its power of the purse, Congress uses the statutory debt limit (codified in 31 U.S.C. §3101) as a means of restricting federal debt. Debt subject to the limit is more than 99% of total federal debt, and includes debt held by the public (which is used to finance budget deficits) and debt issued to federal government accounts (which is used to meet federal obligations). The debt limit acts as a congressional check on recent revenue and expenditure trends, though decisions affecting debt levels may have been agreed to by Congress and the Administration well in advance of debt limit deliberations. Some past debt limit legislation has linked debt limit increases with other fiscal policy proposals. What Are Extraordinary Measures? Extraordinary measures represent a series of actions that postpone when Congress must act on debt limit legislation. The authority for using extraordinary measures rests with the Treasury Secretary (codified in 5 U.S.C. §8348 and 5 U.S.C. §8909). Invoking extraordinary measures has delayed required action on the debt limit by periods ranging from a few weeks to several months, depending on when such measures were enacted (see the How Long Do Extraordinary Measures Last? section). Accounts and members of the public that are affected by extraordinary measures must be compensated for the delay in payment that resulted from such actions when the debt limit is subsequently modified. Before or during a period when extraordinary measures are implemented, Treasury typically provides a description of the extraordinary measures available and estimates of their effect on federal borrowing capacity (or how much headroom they will add). The most recent description of such measures was provided by Treasury in December 2017. Table 1 provides a description of the extraordinary measures Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN10837 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Conaress

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