The government borrows money to make up the difference between what it pays and what it takes in, and the debt ceiling is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow.
Still, the deal has only postponed by two months negotiations over spending cuts and the government debt ceiling - a legal cap on its total borrowing set by Congress.
Just before the New Year, the US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner indicated that the federal government would run up against the debt ceiling - a legal cap on its total borrowing set by Congress - by the end of February.