U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave lawmakers a deadline Monday: raise the debt ceiling by June 1 or risk a default on U.S. debt obligations.
Yellen sent a letter to Congressional leaders Monday saying a default could come as early as June 1, though it could potentially be delayed a few weeks. A default would be unprecedented and have catastrophic consequences for the U.S. economy.
“After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time,” the letter said. “This estimate is based on currently available data, as federal receipts and outlays are inherently variable, and the actual date that Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of weeks later than these estimates.”
Yellen warned of the economic fallout of failing to raise the debt limit.
