Passage of $5 trillion debt-limit increase puts Trump at a strategic advantage over Dems for next round

The passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” and its $5 trillion debt-limit increase has averted the crisis for now but not forever.

“Increasing the debt ceiling should be a routine function of the government, so tucking the increase into a must-pass bill is smart,” Michael Strain, the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox Business Network (FBN).

“Doing so will spare a potentially harmful and damaging fight over increasing the debt ceiling. It’s certainly possible that both parties will have to make concessions the next time around,” he added.

The latter words were the key because another debt-ceiling raise will likely be needed before President Donald Trump leaves office, and when that time comes, negotiations will probably be necessary.

New spending bill raises debt ceiling by $5T, adding $5T to federal debt in 2 years. Will need another debt ceiling hike in 2027. Protect yourself with scarce, desirable assets.

— Jimmy Kostro (@JimmyKostro) July 6, 2025

“The way these negotiations typically go is, in exchange for increasing the debt ceiling, spending cuts are made,” E.J. Antoni of the Heritage Foundation explained to FBN.

“It could look something like we agree to increase the debt ceiling by $1 trillion in exchange for cutting $1 trillion or so in spending over the next decade. Obviously, those numbers might be higher or lower, but that’s the typical calculus,” he added.

As to what sort of spending cuts will be pursued, Antoni speculated that they’ll involve fraud and waste courtesy of the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“I think this time around you’ll see a particular emphasis on reducing things like abuse, corruption, fraud, and waste because of the impact of DOGE,” he said.

“There has been so much exposure to those types of abuses in the federal budget that I think that will be low-hanging fruit when we come to the next debt ceiling talk,” he added.

Regardless, he believes Trump will face little difficulty navigating the next debt crisis.

“When we look at these future debt ceiling negotiations down the road, don’t underestimate President Trump’s ability to negotiate,” he said. “Repeatedly, analysts and political pundits and even economists have thought that he was not going to be able to get as good of a deal as he has gotten in the past.”

But for every supporter, there’s a critic like Romina Boccia, the director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute.

“Republicans have long argued that the debt ceiling is one of the few leverage points to enact spending reductions,” she said to FBN.

“But this debt ceiling increase flips that script—it’s nearly a dollar-for-dollar increase in debt for new deficits, with far more modest spending reductions that are delayed, increasing the risk that they could be overturned,” she added.

An even bigger critic is DOGE founder Elon Musk, who’s since returned to the private marketplace but still opines frequently on government matters:

It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!

Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025

Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING , but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year pic.twitter.com/w13Qkm2e1A

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2025

Musk, much like Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, is a staunch opponent of raising the debt limit but a huge proponent of cutting spending — as much of it as possible.

Last month, Musk warned that if Congress keeps raising the debt ceiling without implementing any serious spending cuts, America could very well go bankrupt.

“If this continues, America goes de facto bankrupt and all tax revenue will go to paying interest on the national debt with nothing left for anything else,”  he tweeted.

The tweet is linked to a graph.

Look:

If this continues, America goes de facto bankrupt and all tax revenue will go to paying interest on the national debt with nothing left for anything else. https://t.co/lJ1RgywhGG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2025

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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