How can the public debt of $14.32 trillion now be over the statutory limit of $14.3 trillion??

There is more than a little confusion as to where we are relative to the debt limit that is widely under discussion. The U.S. Treasury does publish a debt number every day, called the Total Public Debt Outstanding which was at 14,320,468,555,091.68 ($14.32 trillion) yesterday. Yes, that does seem to be higher than the so-called debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion (actually, technically, the ceiling or statutory limit is $14.294 trillion), but... there is actually a separate number called the Public Debt Subject to Limit which was at $14.26837 trillion yesterday. Fine print, gobbledygook, and double talk to the rescue.

 

So, we are actually still $25.6 billion below the limit.

 

What is the difference between the debt outstanding and public debt subject to limit? According to the U.S. Treasury:

The Public Debt Outstanding represents the face amount or principal amount of marketable and non-marketable securities currently outstanding. The Public Debt Subject to Limit is the maximum amount of money the Government is allowed to borrow without receiving additional authority from Congress. Furthermore, the Public Debt Subject to Limit is the Public Debt Outstanding adjusted for Unamortized Discount on Treasury Bills and Zero Coupon Treasury Bonds, Miscellaneous debt (very old debt), Debt held by the Federal Financing Bank and Guaranteed Debt.

I still have every confidence that the White House and the Republicans in Congress will come to a deal in the next month or two on both raising the debt limit and an overall approach to gaining fiscal control over the federal budget, the deficit, and the debt.

 

-- Jack Krupansky