Yellen tells Congress there is unlikely to be any wiggle room if catastrophic default is to be avoidedThe Treasury isn’t just warning lawmakers about the critical need to raise the debt ceiling by June. The Washington Post reports that the department has written to US government agencies to determine if they could delay payments.Here’s more from their story:To push off the so-called “X-date” when reserves run dry, Treasury officials have asked their counterparts in other federal agencies about the flexibility of payments due before early June, one of the people said. Treasury has not asked federal agencies to postpone payments beyond their due dates, the person said.The planning has become increasingly urgent in recent days. Last week, senior Treasury staff sent a memo to federal agencies instructing them to take additional steps to keep the Treasury Department closely apprised of their spending. In the memo — which was obtained by The Washington Post and has not been previously reported — David A. Lebryk, fiscal assistant secretary for Treasury, ordered agency officials to notify Treasury at least two days in advance all “deposits and disbursements” of between $50 million and $500 million. Payments above $500 million require five days notice, the memo said.Looking back on the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, Tim Kaine has one big regret about a largely successful stretch of Democratic rule: That his party didn’t try to raise the debt ceiling on its own last year.The Virginia senator believes that if Democrats had tried to hike the debt limit before the House GOP swept into a majority, even Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) might have gone along with it. But Biden’s party never moved on the issue. And six months later, Democrats are stuck doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t — negotiating on the debt ceiling with Republicans. Continue reading...
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