U.S. Debt Deal: Treasury Department Gobbles-Up Most of Increased Debt Limit in One Day

In the largest one-day hike in history, U.S. Government debt shot up to $239 billion.

As a result of the U.S. debt deal, the debt subject to the statutory limit shot far past the old cap of $13.294 trillion to $14.532 trillion on Tuesday, according to the latest U.S. Treasury Department figures, which are typically released on the next business day.

This spike puts the government considerably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, The Washington Times reported. For a rough translation, this means that one day's borrowing gobbled up 60 percent of the $400 billion in extra borrowing Congress granted the president this week.

Debt numbers are known to fluctuate, as it is dependent on what the Treasury Department is redeeming or issuing on any given day. But in the last decade it has seen more of an uptick than a decline as spending and revenue oscillate.

Over the last two and a half months, while Congress and the White House have rowed over a debt deal, that cap number froze: The government was about to reach the borrowing limit set by law. At seemingly the eleventh hour, Congress and the White House scraped together a passable deal to grant new borrowing authority, which meant an initial increase of $400 billion, paired with future increases.

President Barack Obama, in a meeting with his Cabinet Wednesday, said the debt increase gave the government some wiggle room.

"We have now averted what could have been a disastrous blow to the economy. And we have identified on the front end over a trillion dollars in spending reductions that can be done sensibly and safely without affecting core programs," Obama said.

Speaking of the new committee the debt deal created, which is tasked with the burden of finding an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by the end of the year, Obama said, "It's going to be challenging work, and I'm encouraging Congress to take it with the utmost seriousness."