The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress in January, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills and escalating pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a default later this year.

The White House and the new House GOP majority have been at odds over how to resolve a way to raise the debt limit. President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy met last week to discuss a possible agreement.

House Republicans continue to demand that lifting the borrowing cap be accompanied by spending cuts. In January, McCarthy rejected Democratic calls for a clean debt ceiling increase without any conditions attached, something he said he reiterated to the president during their meeting.

The White House has said it will not negotiate or offer concessions and has pushed McCarthy to show the president his budget.

Though the debt ceiling was originally designed to make it easier for the federal government to borrow, the limit has become a way for Congress to restrict the growth of borrowing — turning it into a political football in recent decades.

What is the debt ceiling: Established by Congress, the debt ceiling is the maximum amount the federal government is able to borrow to finance obligations that lawmakers and presidents have already approved – since the government runs budget deficits and the revenue it collects is not sufficient. Increasing the cap does not authorize new spending commitments.

The debt ceiling, which currently stands at $31.4 trillion, was created more than a century ago and has been modified more than 100 times since World War II.

What would happen if the US defaults on its debt: The Treasury Department said it expects extraordinary measures to last until early June. Once these measures and cash on hand are exhausted, the debt ceiling crisis would start having very real impacts.

If the government is no longer able to borrow, it would not have enough money to pay all its bills in full and on time — including interest on the national debt. So it would likely have to temporarily delay payments or default on some of its commitments, potentially affecting Social Security payments, veterans’ benefits and federal employees’ salaries, among others.