Debt ceiling crisis sparks political and economic concerns.

President Joe Biden insists that Congress should pass the debt limit with no strings attached, warning that Republicans are "threatening to undo all this progress by letting us default." The White House argues that the blame for the government defaulting on the nation's $31.4 trillion debt will fall on Republicans, and that the push to negotiate over the ceiling in exchange for spending cuts amounts to "hostage-taking." Failing to raise the government's borrowing limit could trigger panic on Wall Street and shake the public's confidence in the economy, an outcome Democrats fear could prove politically disastrous for Biden as he heads into his re-election campaign.