Without action, the national debt will exceed the statutory limit within a month. Lawmakers must clear a debt-increase limit by the week of November 22, or the government will be forced to default on its obligations for the first time ever.

The current debt limit of $7.4 trillion was reached on October 14, according to Treasury Secretary John Snow. Since that time, Snow has made a number of accounting moves to keep the government debt below the limit, including a suspension of payments to certain federal retirement plans.

Congress has always found time to raise the debt limit in the past, although each time the process has been politically painful. By moving the increase to after the election, the leadership hopes to reduce pressure and make the process easier, although most appropriators will resist attempts to include the debt-measure into a pre-existing appropriations bill.