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If the impasse is not broken, could President Barack Obama simply ignore the ceiling and borrow more money?
Some legal experts believe he could, citing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1868.
With the country still wrestling with post-war divisions, section four of the amendment was written after politicians from the defeated south sought to block the north's commitment to repay large debts arising from its victorious campaign.
"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law ... shall not be questioned," it reads.
Neil Buchanan, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said that means the government's obligation to make payments cannot be abrogated by some "arbitrary limit."
"If Congress has enacted laws that create public obligations, then those obligations must be met," Buchanan wrote in a column on Thursday.
Taken a step farther, some suggest, the law may make the debt ceiling itself unconstitutional.
While some have argued that the constitutional clause was specific to the situation of the time, a 1935 Supreme Court ruling established that it still applies, Buchanan said.

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