U.S. will begin 'extraordinary measures' to stay under debt limit [View all]
Source: Washington Post
The Treasury Department on Friday said that it will begin “extraordinary measures” next week to prevent the United States government from defaulting on its payment obligations, as lawmakers in Washington prepare for a potentially devastating fiscal showdown.
In a letter to congressional officials, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the administration would on Jan. 19 begin repurposing federal funds to extend the date by which the government will run out of money. Congress must pass a law raising the debt limit from its current total of $31.4 trillion or the Treasury can’t borrow any more, even to pay for spending lawmakers have already authorized.
“The use of extraordinary measures enables the government to meet its obligations for only a limited amount of time,” Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders. “It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit. 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.”
The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt in its history, and economists warn that doing so could trigger a panic on Wall Street and lead to millions of job losses. Many leading Republican lawmakers are demanding that their new House majority use the debt limit as leverage to force the Biden administration to accept sweeping spending cuts that Democrats oppose, creating an impasse with no clear resolution at hand.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023/01/13/debt-limit-extraordinary-measures-treasury/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert
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