Trump stuns Washington with push to repeal debt ceiling
With time running out to avert a government shutdown, the president-elect demanded that lawmakers lift the borrowing limit as well.

December 19, 2024 at 11:29 a.m. EST Today at 11:29 a.m. EST


President-elect Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office during a meeting with President Joe Biden on Nov. 13. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Jeff Stein

President-elect Donald Trump has stunned lawmakers in Washington by calling for the suspension — or outright elimination — of the federal borrowing limit, introducing an explosive new demand into last-minute negotiations over averting a government shutdown this weekend.

In social media posts and interviews on Wednesday and Thursday, Trump called on congressional Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, a law that limits how much money the federal government can borrow.

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By Jeff Stein
Jeff Stein is the White House economics reporter for The Washington Post. He was a crime reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and, in 2014, founded the local news nonprofit the Ithaca Voice in Upstate New York. He was also a reporter for Vox.follow on X@jstein_wapo