What you need to know about the debt ceiling as the deadline looms

People pass the front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, on March 22. Brinkmanship in Washington over raising the U.S. debt ceiling has begun to raise worries in parts of the financial markets. (Peter Morgan/AP)

The federal government is perilously close to being unable to make payments on the country's debt. It is up to Congress to vote to increase the nation's borrowing cap, known as the debt limit. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is in a standoff with President Biden over Republican demands to tie the debt limit to spending caps and other policy demands.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the country could run out of borrowing authority by June 1, leaving negotiators little time to reach an agreement.