Debt Limit Disapproval. The debt deal passed by Congress in August 2011 immediately raised the national debt limit by $400 billion, while also allowing the President to raise the ceiling by an additional $500 billion unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted. Should these increases in borrowing authority prove insufficient, the debt deal even allowed the President to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.2 to $1.5 trillion subject to a resolution of disapproval.
Last year, President Obama requested the additional $500 billion debt-limit increase, and Congress failed to block the request. Though the resolution of disapproval was passed by the House, it was rejected by the Senate.
This year, Obama requested raising the debt ceiling an additional $1.2 trillion, and the House tried to block the increase via a resolution of disapproval (House Joint Resolution 98). The House passed H. J. Res. 98 on January 18, 2012 by a vote of 239 to 176 (Roll Call 4). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government should live within its means and because most of the spending responsible for the ballooning national debt is unconstitutional.
