Milwaukee City Wire

Legislators on Capitol Hill continue to disagree on increasing the debt limit, which may result in the government going into default, according to an ABC7 report.

Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee recently tweeted about the importance of increasing the debt ceiling, warning that failing to do so will have a negative impact on the city's economy.

“The federal debt limit is near, and a default would have big consequences. Here in Milwaukee we would feel the harm to the economy, and important federally funded programs would face disruption," Barrett tweeted. "Increasing the debt limit does not increase government spending, it simply funds the obligations Congress had previously approved – under both Republicans and Democrats. A crisis is not inevitable; responsible leaders can step up and solve this."

The federal debt limit is the maximum amount of money that the U.S. may borrow to fulfill current financial commitments, such as military wages, tax refunds and Social Security benefits, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Congress has increased (or temporarily extended) the debt ceiling 78 times since 1960.

Although the debt ceiling was technically reached on Aug. 1, the Treasury Department is continuing to make payments through what ABC characterized as "some accounting and investing sleight of hand."

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, however, has stated that they can only do so until Oct. 18.

Additionally, Sen. Mitch McConnell has said that no Republican will vote to increase the debt ceiling and that Democrats should instead utilize a budget procedure known as reconciliation, according to a report by The New York Times.

ABC also reports that if the U.S. government is unable to borrow money in the future, this may have a negative impact on veterans' benefits, FEMA financing for natural disasters, food assistance programs and public health spending for COVID mitigation.