When Is the Debt-Ceiling’s ‘X-Date’? Sooner Than Expected Because of a Disappointing Tax Season.

What happens when an unflappable stock market meets an intractable Congress? With the debt ceiling’s X-date fast approaching and a disappointing tax season in the books, we may get the answer sooner than expected.

At first glance, it looks like progress is being made on the debt ceiling. This past week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) went, with much fanfare, to the New York Stock Exchange to reveal the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023. The plan would raise the borrowing limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for limiting future spending growth, putting work requirements on Medicaid, and removing the funds allotted to the Internal Revenue Service and the clean energy tax credits that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act, among other provisions.