WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned on Friday that she would have to start using “extraordinary measures” to keep paying the nation’s bills this month if lawmakers Inaction to increase the statutory debt limit and her powers to delay default could be exhausted by early June.
Yellen’s letter to Congress is the first sign of Republican resistance in the House of Representatives to a possible increase in the loan ceiling. put the US economy at risk and signal the beginning of an intense battle in Washington this year over spending and deficits.
“Failure to meet government obligations will cause irreparable harm to the American economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” wrote Yellen.
The Treasury Secretary said there was considerable uncertainty around how long she could use measures to delay default and that she would keep Congress informed of the financial situation. Yellen said she would begin suspending new investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service’s Retirement Health Benefit Fund and suspend reinvestment of the Securities Investment Fund. Federal Employees Retirement System Savings Savings Plan later this month to avoid defaulting on the debt limit.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment immediately on Friday, but said Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, would most likely address the matter at an afternoon news conference. Jean-Pierre has repeatedly said that President Biden will not negotiate with congressional Republicans about the debt limit, despite their calls to raise the limit with spending cuts. federal pepper
“Congress will need to raise the debt limit unconditionally,” Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with Biden to Texas aboard Air Force One last week. “There will be no hostage taking.”
