U.S. to hit debt limit next week, Yellen warns Congress

The U.S. is expected to hit the debt ceiling next Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter Friday to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is expected to hit the debt ceiling next Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter Friday to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Beginning on that date, Jan. 19, Yellen said, the Treasury Department would need to begin taking "certain extraordinary measures" to avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

Extraordinary measures allow the government to buy time so that Congress can negotiate and pass a debt limit increase. In the letter, Yellen said the measures enable "the government to meet its obligations for only a limited amount of time." She said that while the Treasury Department can't identify exactly when the measures will be exhausted, she said, it is "unlikely" that they "will be exhausted before early June."

Yellen said Congress must take action as soon as possible to raise 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," she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/us-hit-debt-limit-week-yellen-warns-congress-rcna65725

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