The growth in federal debt held by the public and in intergovernmental accounts, such as trust funds, has periodically obliged Congress to raise the debt limit. Debt limit issues since the passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are discussed in more detail in CRS Report R43389, The Debt Limit Since 2011 , by [author name scrubbed]. A Brief History of the Federal Debt Limit

		Origins of the Federal Debt Limit

Congress has always placed restrictions on federal debt. For example, the 1919 Victory Liberty Bond Act (P.L. Since then, Congress has enacted 78 separate measures that have altered the limit on federal debt. For instance, the debt limit was increased by $1.9 trillion ( P.L. Between then and the end of May 2002, debt subject to limit increased by another $217 billion, divided between a $117 billion increase in debt held by government accounts and a $100 billion increase in debt held by the public, putting the debt close to the $5,950 billion limit. The President signed the bill into law on June 28 ( P.L. Subsequently, the House passed an amended version of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 ( H.R. The President signed the bill on July 30 ( P.L. 110-289 ), increasing the debt limit. On October 1, 2008, the Senate voted on, and passed, a different version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ( H.R. 1424 on October 3, 2008, and it was signed into law by the President ( P.L. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) as passed by the Senate on February 10, 2009 (Division B of the Senate Substitute amendment to H.R. The final conference agreement on ARRA was passed by the House and Senate on February 13, 2009, and signed by the President on February 17, 2009 ( P.L. 111-5 ). This measure contained a provision increasing the debt limit to $12,104 billion. H.R. The President signed the measure ( P.L. 111-139 ) on February 12, 2010. Secretary Geithner Invokes Extraordinary Measures in May 2011

On May 16, 2011, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced that the federal debt had reached its statutory limit and declared a debt issuance suspension period, which would allow certain extraordinary measures to extend Treasury's borrowing capacity until about August 2, 2011. Subsequently, on August 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law a revised compromise measure (Budget Control Act; BCA; P.L. The BCA included numerous provisions aimed at deficit reduction in tandem with provisions allowing a series of increases in the debt limit of up to $2,400 billion ($2.4 trillion) subject to certain conditions. First, the debt limit was raised by $400 billion, to $14,694 billion on August 2, 2011, following a certification of the President that the debt was within $100 billion of its legal limit. A second increase of $500 billion occurred on September 22, 2011, which was also triggered by the President's certification of August 2. Debt Limit Suspended in Early 2012

The debt limit increases permitted through the BCA were sufficient to meet federal obligations until the last day of 2012. The Senate passed the measure on January 31 on a 64-34 vote; it was then signed into law (P.L. 113-3) on February 4. Debt Limit Suspended Again as Part of Package to End Government Shutdown in October 2013

The evening before October 17, 2013, when the U.S. Treasury's borrowing capacity was projected to be exhausted, Congress passed a continuing resolution (Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014; H.R. 2775; P.L. 113-46), which ended the shutdown of the federal government that had commenced at the start of the federal fiscal year on October 1 and included a provision to suspend the debt limit until February 8, 2014. Debt Limit Reinstated in March 2015

After the suspension ended on February 7, 2014, the U.S. Treasury reset the debt limit to $17,212 billion and the Treasury Secretary invoked authorities to use various extraordinary measures. On February 11, the House approved a measure to suspend the debt limit until March 15, 2015. 113-83 ) on February 15, 2014. Extraordinary Measures Projected to Last Until Early November 2015

Once the debt limit suspension expired on March 16, 2015, the limit was reestablished at $18,113 billion. On October 15, 2015, Secretary Lew stated that extraordinary measures would be exhausted "no later than" November 3, 2015, although a relatively small cash reserve—projected at less than $30 billion—would be on hand. On October 28, 2015, the House concurred with a modified version of Senate amendments to H.R. 1314 , which became known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA 2015). 114-74 ) on November 2, 2015.
Congress has always restricted federal debt. The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 included an aggregate limit on federal debt as well as limits on specific debt issues. Through the 1920s and 1930s, Congress altered the form of those restrictions to give the U.S. Treasury more flexibility in debt management and to allow modernization of federal financing. In 1939, a general limit was placed on federal debt.
Federal debt accumulates when the government sells debt to the public to finance budget deficits and to meet federal obligations or when it issues debt to government accounts, such as the Social Security, Medicare, and Transportation trust funds. Total federal debt is the sum of debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts. Debt also increases when the portfolio of federal loans expands.
Congress has modified the debt limit 14 times since 2001. Congress raised the limit in June 2002, May 2003, November 2004, March 2006, and September 2007. The 2007-2008 fiscal crisis and subsequent economic slowdown led to sharply higher deficits in recent years, which led to a series of debt limit increases. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221), signed into law (P.L. 110-289) on July 30, 2008, included a debt limit increase. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424), signed into law on October 3 (P.L. 110-343), raised the debt limit again. The debt limit rose a third time in less than a year to $12,104 billion with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 13, 2009 (ARRA; H.R. 1), which was signed into law on February 17, 2009 (P.L. 111-5). Following that measure, the debt limit was subsequently increased by $290 billion to $12,394 billion (P.L. 111-123) in a stand-alone debt limit bill on December 28, 2009, and by $1.9 trillion to $14,294 billion on February 12, 2010 (P.L. 111-139).
The federal debt again reached its limit on May 16, 2011, prompting the Treasury Secretary to invoke authorities to use extraordinary measures to extend Treasury's borrowing capacity. On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; S. 365; P.L. 112-25), which resolved that debt limit episode. The BCA included provisions aimed at deficit reduction and allowing the debt limit to rise between $2,100 billion and $2,400 billion in three stages, the latter two subject to congressional disapproval. Once the BCA was enacted, a presidential certification triggered a $400 billion increase, and a second $500 billion increase on September 22, 2011. A third $1.2 trillion increase took place on January 28, 2012.
Federal debt reached its limit on December 31, 2012. Extraordinary measures were again used until February 4, 2013, when H.R. 325, which suspended the debt limit until May 19, 2013, was signed into law (P.L. 113-3). When that suspension expired, the debt limit was set at $16,699 billion and extraordinary measures were reemployed. On October 16, 2013—the night before Treasury's borrowing capacity was estimated to be exhausted—Congress passed and the President signed a continuing resolution (H.R. 2775; P.L. 113-46) that included a suspension of the debt limit through February 7, 2014. On February 15, 2014, the debt limit was suspended again (S. 540; P.L. 113-83) through March 15, 2015. The debt limit was reset on March 16, 2015, at $18.1 trillion. On October 15, 2015, Secretary Lew stated that extraordinary measures would be exhausted no later than November 3, 2015. On October 28, 2015, the House concurred with a modified version of Senate amendments to H.R. 1314 (retitled as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015), which would suspend the debt limit until March 15, 2017. The Senate approved the measure on October 30, 2015, and the President signed it (P.L. 114-74) on November 2, 2015. CRS Report R43389, The Debt Limit Since 2011, by [author name scrubbed] discusses recent debt limit events in more detail.