CBO Warns: Treasury Could Run Out Of Cash By November If $22 Trillion Debt Limit Goes Unraised; McConnell Warns GOP Won’t Vote To Raise Debt Ceiling, and related stories
U.S. Treasury Could Run Out Of Cash By November If $22 Trillion Debt Limit Goes Unraised, CBO Warns:
Topline The U.S. Treasury stands to run out of cash as soon as October if the debt limit isn’t lifted in the coming weeks, the Congressional Budget Office warned Wednesday, lending urgency to an issue that’s seemingly at a standstill in Washington as Democrats and Republicans remain at a standoff over the cost of President Joe Biden’s lofty infrastructure ambitions.
Key Facts
- In accordance with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, Congress is facing a deadline of August 1 to either raise the current debt limit, which is the maximum amount of debt the Treasury can issue to the public and other federal agencies, or extend its in-place suspension.
- The Treasury would need to take “extraordinary measures” to finance the government’s activities if no action is taken, CBO cautioned Wednesday, saying the department’s few options include cutting off investments to federal retirement, health benefits and disability funds for civil servants and federal government retirees.
- However, even those measures would only help briefly, CBO continued, estimating the Treasury would then probably run out of cash in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1, and most likely by October or November. —>READ MORE HERE
McConnell warns GOP won’t vote to raise debt ceiling:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is warning that Republicans won’t help raise the debt ceiling and is urging Democrats to include the spending hike in an infrastructure bill that they can pass along party lines.
“I can’t imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we’ve been experiencing,” McConnell told Punchbowl News.
McConnell — whose office confirmed his remarks to The Hill — added that Democrats should include the hike in reconciliation, the process they are using to pass a $3.5 trillion spending package by a simple majority in the Senate.
Under a 2019 deal during the Trump administration, Congress agreed to let the government borrow through July 31.
To raise the debt ceiling outside of reconciliation, Democrats would need 10 GOP votes in addition to all 50 members of their own caucus. —>READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to related stories:
Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, July 2021
McConnell ‘can’t imagine’ any GOP senator would vote to raise debt ceiling
White House slams Republicans over debt ceiling threat
U.S. Government Could Run Out of Cash This Fall Unless Debt Ceiling Is Lifted, CBO Says
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