Congress Suspends Debt Limit Until March 2015

Today, the Senate passed by a vote of 55 to 43 the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act, S. 540. The bill suspends the federal debt limit until March 16, 2015.  The House passed the bill yesterday by a vote of 221 to 201 and the President is expected to sign it soon.

The legislation does not include any spending cuts or other legislative provisions.  The debt limit was reinstated on February 7 after being suspended until that date by legislation enacted last October.  Treasury has been employing extraordinary measures since February 7 to continue meeting federal financial obligations, but in a recent letter to Congress Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew stated Treasury would likely exhaust those measures by February 27.