Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie is making a new kind of fashion statement on Capitol Hill. He’s wearing a pin with a digital counter that tracks the growth of the national debt.

What You Need To Know

  • As lawmakers haggle and posture over raising the debt limit, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has fashioned a pin tracking the country's national debt

  • The pin is similar to the billboard-style debt clock that has been ticking away near New York's Times Square for years
  •  Republicans want to tie a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts or other concessions from Democrats, saying that they would only raise the limit to secure an overhaul of federal spending
  • Democrats, on the other hand, argue that Congress has voted to raise the borrowing limit numerous times under presidents of both parties; They've also warned that not raising the debt ceiling would have a devastating impact on the global economy

“I built it to induce a little bit of anxiety among my colleagues ... to have some concern for the debt and it's actually working so far," Massie said, adding: "They were sort of appalled that they have to look at what they created."

Massie, who represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District which stretches across Northern Kentucky and 280 miles of the Ohio River, is an inventor and entrepreneur with two engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I built it from scratch,” Massie said. “"Inside of it is a battery and a small computer that logs on to the internet, goes to the Treasury’s website and gets the actual debt that they publish every day."

It also "makes an approximation of what the debt is based on the historical average" when Treasury is not updating the data, Massie explained.

Republicans want to tie a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts or other concessions from Democrats, saying that they would only raise the limit to secure an overhaul of federal spending. Democrats, on the other hand, argue that Congress has voted to raise the borrowing limit numerous times under presidents of both parties. They've also said that not raising the debt ceiling would have a devastating impact on the global economy.

Democrats warned that a default would be catastrophic for the American people, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday accusing House Republicans on Tuesday of “recklessly flirt[ing] with default.”

“It’s clear, default would be a catastrophe for American working families,” Schumer said.

“Playing brinksmanship, taking hostages is being risky and not caring about average people,” he added. "If the MAGA GOP stops paying our nation’s bills, Americans pay the price.”

Democrats are also asking Republicans to pin down where exactly would budget cuts come from.

"Leader McConnell said something yesterday that I think is right on the mark: He said that when it comes to moving a debt ceiling proposal through Congress, the House should go first," Schumer said on Wednesday. "He is correct, and not only should the House go first, but [House Republicans] must quickly show the American people what their plan actually is for avoiding a first-ever default on the national debt."

The Treasury Department has begun using “extraordinary measures” to fund operations and allow the country to continue paying its debts, which are expected to run out in June.