Opinion | Republicans Can’t Agree on a Path Out of Their Own Debt Crisis - The New York Times

The ceiling is a useless legislative construct that lets lawmakers refuse to borrow money to pay for the deficit spending they already approved. If Congress doesn't raise it, the government goes into default and can't make payments on its obligations, including interest on Treasury bonds, Social Security paymentsand other essential spending, which would quickly crash the U.S. economy. It generally comes up as an issue only when Republicans control at least one house of Congress while a Democrat is in the White House; Republicans are not known to express concern about deficits caused when a president of their own party cuts taxes for the rich...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/opinion/editorials/debt-ceiling-mccarthy-2023.html