President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday called for the elimination of the nation's debt limit entirely, one day after throwing congressional leaders a major curveball when he brought the topic into already volatile efforts to pass a short-term government funding bill and avert a shutdown. 

What You Need To Know

  • President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday called for the elimination of the nation's debt limit entirely, one day after throwing Congressional leaders a major curveball when he brought the topic into already volatile efforts to pass a short-term government funding bill and avert a shutdown
  • “I would support that entirely,” he told NBC News, before noting that some Democrats have floated the idea in the past
  • The comment came less than 24 hours after Trump sent a jolt through the nation’s capital when he made clear he wanted the debt limit to be addressed before he takes office alongside efforts to pass a stopgap government funding bill by the Friday deadline, adding an unexpected variable to the fight after Republicans spent Wednesday raging against the funding deal proposed by Congressional leaders Tuesday night
  • The new funding proposal unveiled Thursday night would extend the nation’s debt limit to Jan. 2027, although it is unclear if the bill will pass

In an interview over the phone with NBC News on Thursday, the president-elect said getting rid of the debt ceiling – an idea that does not fit neatly with many Republicans past stances on the subject – would be the “smartest thing” Congress could do. 

“I would support that entirely,” he told NBC News, before noting that some Democrats have floated the idea in the past. 

“If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge,” he said. 

The comment came less than 24 hours after Trump sent a jolt through the nation’s capital when he made clear he wanted the debt limit to be addressed before he takes office.

He wants Congress to pair the debt limit increase with efforts to pass a stopgap government funding bill by the Friday deadline, adding an unexpected variable to the fight. The debt limit had not previously been brought up publicly in discussions over the Friday government funding deadline. 

“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch,” Trump said in a joint statement with his vice president, JD Vance. “If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration?”

He also railed against the original funding proposal unveiled this week, which is known as a continuing resolution or CR, and said the GOP should only approve one that is free of “DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS” and comes with a debt ceiling increase, sending Republicans back to the drawing board and raising concerns over a shutdown. 

The new funding proposal unveiled Thursday night would extend the nation’s debt limit to Jan. 2027, although it is unclear if the bill will pass. An initial vote on Thursday night failed by wide margins, with dozens of Republicans joining Democrats in voting down the measure. 

What to know about the debt limit and the current deadline

The current suspension of the debt limit – the total dollar figure the U.S. government is allowed to borrow to pay for things, such as Social Security benefits and military salaries, that Congress and the White House have already signed off on – expires on Jan. 1, 2025. The date was established in a 99-page deal – worked out over weeks that featured grueling negotiations – between President Joe Biden and the GOP House speaker at the time, Kevin McCarthy. 

After Jan. 1, the Treasury Department can use what are referred to as extraordinary measures to pay the nation’s bills. Such measures can typically last for months, making the real deadline likely an unknown date further into 2025. 

In 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress in a letter on May 1 that the U.S. was coming close to hitting the deadline, which she later adjusted to June 5. In his statement Wednesday night, Trump indicated he believed the date would come in June as it did the last time under Biden and McCarthy’s leadership. 

The debt ceiling figure is set by lawmakers on Capitol Hill and has had to be raised dozens of times over the last six decades. According to the Treasury Department, Congress had lifted or extended the limit 78 times since 1960, 49 times when a Republican controlled the White House and 29 when a Democrat did. 

Reaching and failing to raise the ceiling would lead the nation to default on its debt, something that has never happened in U.S. history. Doing away with the limit entirely, as Trump called for, would eliminate the need to have to raise it. 

Congress reacts

On Thursday, the top Democrat in the lower chamber, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York accused “GOP extremists” of wanting “House Democrats to raise the debt ceiling so that House Republicans can lower the amount of your Social Security check” in a post on the social media site Bluesky.

“Hard pass,” he added. 

He later told reporters that discussions over the debt limit at the moment are “premature at best.” 

Other Democrats, however, backed the president-elect’s call. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on X that she agrees “with President-elect Trump that Congress should terminate the debt limit and never again govern by hostage taking.”

On the other side of the aisle, Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote in a post on X: “I am not going to raise or suspend the debt ceiling (racking up more debt) without significant & real spending cuts attached to it.”

Trump lashed out at Roy on his social media site Truth Social, writing that the Texas Republican is “getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory.”

He went on to call for Republicans to challenge Roy for his seat next election cycle.