2023-05-27 01:40:37
© Reuters. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen 4/11/2023 REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
By Steve Holland and Moira Warburton and Rami Ayyub
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that the government will run out of cash to pay bills on June 5, which could trigger a catastrophic default if the rate does not rise. country’s debt ceiling.
Yellen’s announcement gives US President Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Congressional Leader Kevin McCarthy a little more time to reach an agreement to raise the self-imposed limit on federal debt. Previously, the Treasury had said the deal needed to close by June 1.
Representative Patrick McHenry, one of the Republican negotiators, said it was possible to meet the June 5 deadline.
“We’re not done yet, but we’re within the window of being able to meet (the deadline) and we’ve got to come up with some really tough compromises,” he told reporters.
Biden said he believes negotiators are very close to a deal.
“Things look good. I’m very optimistic,” Biden told reporters.
Negotiators appear to be closing in on an agreement to raise the limit for two years, but disagreements remain over social programs.
Any deal would have to win approval in both the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-led Senate before Biden can sign it into law — a process that could take more than a week.
Negotiators tentatively reached a deal that would limit spending on many government programs next year, according to a US official.
However, social programs continued to be a critical point. The top Republican negotiator, Garrett Graves, said the party would not back down from demanding that more beneficiaries have a job.
“Of course not. Not a chance,” Graves told reporters.
(Reportagem de Jarrett Renshaw, Richard Cowan, Trevor Hunnicutt, Andy Sullivan, Gram Slattery, David Lawder e Nandita Bose)
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