NPR.

This is the indicator from planet money, I'm Whalen Wong.

And I'm Adrian Ma and it is debt ceiling season.

That is when the US Treasury says that it is about maxed out its credit line and unless

it's raised, the government will no longer be able to pay its bills.

Adrian, I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu when you read that.

Yeah, well, that makes sense because that is exactly how I opened an indicator episode

back in October 2021.

Because altogether now, it's debt ceiling season.

Again, it's like winter spring, summer fall, debt ceiling season.

So are we supposed to wear white before or after debt ceiling season?

Maybe you're supposed to wear red because it's like we're in the red.

I like it.

Okay, so just to quickly catch people up, the US Treasury Department has announced that

as of Thursday, we've hit the debt limit, which is approximately $31 trillion.

But to buy the government some time, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the department

is now engaging in quote, extraordinary measures, and quote, basically accounting maneuvers

to prevent the country from defaulting.

So Congress has until at least early June to strike a deal to raise or suspend the debt

limit.

Yeah, and you know, it might seem that this debt ceiling drama has just always been the

way it is and always the way it's going to be.

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