President Trump said Thursday he’s open to a discussion about eliminating the debt ceiling, one day after striking a deal with Democrats to suspend it for three months.
“It could be discussed,” Trump said in the White House after a reporter shouted a question about doing away with the debt ceiling.
“For many years people have been talking about getting rid of debt ceiling altogether and there are a lot of good reasons to do that,” Trump said, according to a pool report. “So certainly that is something that could be discussed. We even discussed it at the meeting we had yesterday.”
Trump added that the periodic need to vote to raise or suspend the debt ceiling “complicates things.”
“It’s really not necessary because you’re talking about budget, so it’s really not necessary because you’re talking about budget,” Trump said. “So it’s really not necessary, but it’s certainly something we could discuss. But as long as it’s there it will never be violated.”
The debt ceiling is a statutory cap on the amount the U.S. can borrow. For years, the ceiling was set by Congress as a firm limit on borrowing.
For the last several years, however, Congress has voted to get around the problem by suspending it completely. When the ceiling is suspended, the government can borrow what it wants, and when the suspension ends, the new debt ceiling is whatever amount of total debt the U.S. has accrued.
The deal Trump reached with Democrats is expected to suspend the debt ceiling until Dec. 8. That deal upset conservatives who were hoping to attach spending restraint conditions on any deal to allow more government borrowing.
The Republican Study Committee, for example, told House Speaker Paul Ryan the group opposes the deal, and pushed again on Thursday for new spending reductions when the issue resurfaces next year.
Trump heralded the deal as a sign of a “different relationship” and a “dialogue” he is having with Congress.
