Obama Seeks to Raise Debt Ceiling

Treasury Department officials said Tuesday that the White House will formally request that Congress increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion—which they say will satisfy U.S. debts until the end of the year. This latest request is the third one authorized by the dramatic debt-ceiling deal this summer, and if Congress does not want to approve the increase, it has 15 days to pass a joint resolution disapproving the measure—but President Obama can veto that. The request is expected to come on Dec. 30, the day the debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current $15.194 trillion debt.