US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a letter to congressional leadership, said that the country was projected to reach its legal borrowing limit — set at $31.4 trillion — as soon as Thursday.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a letter to congressional leadership, said that the country was projected to reach its legal borrowing limit — set at $31.4 trillion — as soon as Thursday.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. will hit its borrowing limit on Thursday, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and her department will need to take “extraordinary measures” to avoid default.
That means the clock is ticking for Congress to take action to raise the debt ceiling. For the moment, though, Democrats and Republicans are in a staring match.
House Republicans say they won’t raise the limit without significant spending cuts. The White House says it won’t negotiate over it.
Juana Summers talks with two people who’ve been here before: Jason Furman, who was an economic advisor to then-President Obama during the 2011 debt ceiling stalemate, and Rohit Kumar, who was then a top aide to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Connor Donevan. It was edited by Lee Hale and William Troop. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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