Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to throw out the U.S. debt limit, and she credits President Trump with the idea of canceling one of the only mechanisms that forces Congress to debate government spending and debt, which now stands at $39.8 trillion.
The debt ceiling is the federal government’s legal borrowing limit. Currently, it is set at just over $41 trillion, which the U.S. is expected to hit next year.
“Donald Trump is right about this: Eliminate the debt limit — its only real function is to threaten an economic crisis,” she recently said on social media.
Ms. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who backs more government spending to create Medicare for All, universal public college and student debt forgiveness, told The Washington Times that she wants Mr. Trump to make limitless debt a reality.
“If President Trump would put his shoulder behind it, I think we could get it done,” she said.
White House officials are not entertaining Ms. Warren’s calls, nor is the administration planning to take up the debt limit increase in an upcoming filibuster-proof budget bill.
But Mr. Trump previously floated the idea of eliminating the debt ceiling and the periodic political crisis it inflicts.
The debt, which is growing at a pace of $7.7 billion a day, routinely hits the statutory limit. When it does, if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. can’t keep borrowing to pay its existing debts, risking default and far-reaching economic calamity.
Congress tends to reach a debt limit deal in the nick of time, and the occasion results in some debate about ongoing deficit spending.
Ms. Warren said the limit fails to contain the debt, and merely allows the party in the minority to leverage the threat of chaos. Her advocacy for tearing down the ceiling comes as markets flash warning signs about America’s fiscal condition.
In July, 30-year Treasury yields rose to the highest level since 2007, a development that could lead to higher borrowing costs for the U.S.
Interest payments now exceed defense spending, pushing the Pentagon from its longtime spot among the three largest spending items in the federal budget. Debt payments, roughly $1.1 trillion a year, or about 14% of the budget, now trail Social Security retirement and disability benefits at about $1.6 trillion and Medicare and Medicaid health programs at $1.7 trillion.
Defense spending in fiscal 2026 stands at about $895 billion.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that the growing national debt “has economic ramifications where it pushes up interest rates and inflation, making things more unaffordable … and it slows economic growth.”
She added that the debt “means that you’re less able to respond to emergencies — like we did during COVID or the Great Recession when we were able to borrow — without pushing up interest rates.”
The U.S. hit the debt ceiling in 2023, forcing the Treasury to take “extraordinary measures” to prevent a default on its debts. Republicans, who controlled the House but were in the minority in the Senate, used their leverage to demand spending cuts.
Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, said these periodic showdowns make him skeptical of the debt ceiling’s value.
“I think it’s been abused for political purposes,” he told The Times. “It’s not without some merit, but it’s not like it’s ever served as a constraint on raising the debt.”
There are no true safeguards for containing the debt, and the ceiling certainly is not a strong one, Ms. MacGuineas said.
“There’s basically none in place,” she said. “The debt ceiling, more often than not these days, gets increased along with actual additional borrowing.”
Republican fiscal hawks told The Times they reject calls to eliminate the debt limit, which they see as a welcome restraint on otherwise boundless spending.
“I’d like to use it to try to reduce spending, so I like it,” said Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has assumed leadership of the Senate Budget Committee after the death of Lindsey Graham, said he is wary about eliminating the debt limit.
“I know that’s what President Trump would want, for sure,” he said. “There’s got to be some leverage for fiscal responsibility at some point in time. I’m somewhat sympathetic with that, but [we’ve] got to figure out some way to reduce the deficit.”
Republicans might raise the ceiling before the next Congress to prevent Democrats from using it as leverage against the White House if they win control of the House or Senate in November.
In July, Mr. Trump called on Republicans to swiftly address “the ever-looming debt ceiling disaster.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, indicated Republicans will not take up a debt ceiling increase any time soon, but might after the midterms.
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