Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. will reach its $31.4 trillion borrowing cap on Thursday.
The debt limit is the total amount of money the U.S. government is authorized to borrow. Once the limit is reached, the Treasury must take extraordinary measures, essentially accounting maneuvers, to prevent the U.S. from defaulting.
In a letter addressed to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, Yellen warned that she’d be implementing two extraordinary measures to give lawmakers more time. However, extraordinary measures can only be used for a limited amount of time.
“It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit,” Yellen wrote. ”Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability.”
Republicans and Democrats are at odds over how to handle the debt ceiling.
McCarthy told President Joe Biden that Republicans would temporarily raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a spending cap. The Speaker asked to meet with lawmakers to begin negotiations.
“I would like to sit down with all the leaders and especially the president and start having discussions,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday.
But, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was not interested in this sort of negotiation..
“As President Biden has made clear, Congress must deal with the debt limit and must do so without conditions,” the Press Secretary told reporters.
