President Joe Biden invited the “big four” congressional leaders to a meeting at the White House next week after the federal government’s debt managers warned Congress on Monday that lawmakers may have even less time than they thought to raise the statutory borrowing cap.
The government may be unable to pay its bills by early June if Congress doesn’t raise the statutory debt limit before then, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Monday. In a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Yellen urged lawmakers to lift or suspend the debt ceiling “as soon as possible” to avoid causing “severe hardship” to families and businesses.
“After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time,” Yellen wrote.
