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US federal debt limit hit on January 19; Beginning this day, the Treasury must take extraordinary measures to avoid defaults and continue funding the federal government’s operations. To do this, Congress must decide to raise or suspend the debt ceiling.
The finance minister wrote Janet Yellen, in a letter to Congress. In the letter, Yellen recalled that the cap was set at approximately $31.381 billion and emphasized that the use of extraordinary measures to avoid default is possible “only for a limited time” and that resources would likely suffice, at least until At the beginning of June.
Danger of “irreparable damage”
It is therefore “vital” that Congress takes timely action to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, otherwise the administration’s failure to meet its commitments would cause “irreparable harm” to the US economy, the lives of all Americans and global financial stability cause , Yellen wrote.
In return, Republicans are demanding spending cuts
The new Republican majority that took office last week Room However, he has already made it clear that any measures to solve the debt ceiling must be accompanied by significant cuts in public spending.
A position that has been difficult to share ever since senatewhich remained with a democratic majority. “If you’re asking for an increase in the debt ceiling, at some point you have to sit down at a table and ask yourself, why did we hit the limit, are we using the credit card past the limit?” said Gop Majority Leader Steve Scalise.