Debt Ceiling Wiggle Room Possible With Highway Transfer Delay

The U.S. may be able to delay hitting the debt ceiling by changing the timing of a required highway funding transfer, federal agencies indicated Tuesday.

The U.S. risks defaulting on its debt obligations in mid-December, timing based in part on a scheduled $118 billion transfer from the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund on Dec. 15. The Treasury Department may, however, be able to defer part or all of that transfer, the Congressional Budget Office said in a statement Tuesday.

CBO, Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper, said transferring only amounts needed for immediate use would push the debt ceiling back by weeks, ...