Congress can’t agree on raising the debt limit, just days before the government runs out of money to pay its bills.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the government will run out of money this Thursday. She said the department will begin taking “extraordinary measures” to make sure it meets its basic obligations.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders on Friday, Yellen said her actions will buy time until Congress can pass legislation that will either raise the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit or suspend it again for a period of time. But she said it’s “critical that Congress act in a timely manner.”
The debt limit is the total amount of money that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments, according…
