The fight over the debt ceiling is usually described as a game of chicken. In the current version, congressional Republicans and the Biden administration each want the other to blink first and avoid a convulsive default on federal government debt.
Actually, it is two separate games of chicken with very different dynamics. The first runs until the “X-date,” when debt hits the $31.4 trillion limit, and the Treasury Department has no more room to borrow and thus pay all the government’s bills. In this game, Republicans have the upper hand. The second game begins after the X-date, and then the advantage switches decisively to the White House.
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