It’s rather surprising that Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic stalwart Sen. Elizabeth Warren would agree on anything. Whatever their political differences, though, they have found one tiny barrier island of common ground: Both believe the federal government should abolish its debt limit.
That alone should tell you the government needs a debt limit. Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, now in the Senate, would increase the government’s borrowing abilities by $4 trillion, but even that massive amount of extra money is not enough for today’s politicians. The president has joined the ranks of those in Washington who think there should be no limits on how much the government can borrow.
Trump wrote Wednesday on social media that “the debt limit should be scrapped to prevent an economic catastrophe. It is too devastating to put into the hands of political people that may want to use it despite the horrendous effect it could have on our country and, indirectly, even the world.”
This analysis, like all others that say the government does not need the occasional restraint of a debt limit, is deeply flawed. By this thinking, short-term political debates are more important than the long-term effects of continuing to allow the debt to increase rapidly.
The president, Warren and others may think shutting down the government temporarily when it hits the debt limit is an economic catastrophe. It is certainly uncomfortable, but only for a short time until Congress reaches a spending agreement.
If you want to talk about a true economic catastrophe, though, think about years down the road, when the debt is a lot higher, and after decades of government spending beyond its means, taxes rise rapidly and useful programs shut down because the money has run out.
Further, when Trump writes that the risks of having a debt limit are too dangerous to put into the hands of political people, that is the pot calling the kettle black. Who is he kidding?
Love him or hate him, Trump is one of the best politicians of our times. But his advocacy of removing the debt limit confirms that he’s one of those political people who can’t be trusted on spending. His record shows this, as the government debt increased by $7 trillion during his first term. (Not to be outdone, it went up by $8 trillion during President Biden’s four years.)
As of May, the federal debt was $36 trillion. It’s clearly headed for $40 trillion and higher. The only way to start paying this down is years of modest discipline that nobody in Washington would support.
There would have to be spending cuts, but not in the ignorant manner that Elon Musk and his know-it-all minions used over the last few months. They predicted $2 trillion in cuts and at last count have about $150 billion. The overspending in the next budget will more than erase those savings. Musk gets credit for criticizing the Big Beautiful Bill, but he rushed through his DOGE work instead of setting up consistent measures to reduce government.
The other part of the equation, unfortunately, will involve modest tax increases. Start with an increase in Social Security and Medicare withholdings to steady those programs, and then figure out other ways to add to federal revenue. And no, tariffs are not part of the solution.
Will any of that happen? Being truthful, probably not. If Congress does eliminate the debt limit in the future, the only good thing about it is that our day of fiscal reckoning will arrive sooner. The voters keep electing people who simply refuse to match spending with revenue.
