US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on the US Congress to raise or raise long-term debt issuance limits. In a letter sent to party leaders in the House and Senate this Monday, the Economist said they would still need to use “extraordinary measures” to meet US government obligations by December 3.
“It is imperative that Congress act to raise or suspend the debt limit in a manner that provides long-term certainty that the government will meet all of its obligations,” Yellen wrote in the document.
Last week, the US President, Joe Bidensigned a bill that raises the loan limit to US$480 billion.
“The increase in the loan limit approved last week provides a high degree of confidence that the Treasury will be able to finance federal government operations through December 3, 2021,” said the former chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed, US). Central bank).
Yellen insisted that the solution is temporary and that even then, the Treasury would have to extend the extraordinary measures it had been using since August, when the government reached the ceiling’s previous limit. “Once again, I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the trust and total credit of the United States,” the secretary reinforced in the letter.
The bill signed by Biden was passed to Congress after weeks of political stalemate between Democrats and Republicans. The provisional deal was offered by Senate opposition leader Senator Mitch McConnell. But the Republican has already said he will not support raising or raising the ceiling for a long time.
The government advocates limit increases with bipartisan support, as is traditional, but a year before the midterm election, Republicans want the blame for increasing the public debt to fall solely on the rival legend.
To suspend without McConnell’s cooperation firefighter, which only allows approval of most bills with a minimum of 60 votes in the Senate, Democrats must pass a new expansion of the limit through “conciliation,” a budget tool that paves the way for the approval of bills by a simple majority. relating to the budget.
That’s because Biden’s party has only 50 out of 100 Senate seats, the same number of seats as Republicans. The tight majority comes with the deciding vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, who accumulates the position of Speaker of the House.
The letter sent by Yellen on Monday was addressed to McConnell, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and Democratic Party leader Chuck Schumer in the Senate, among other leaders.
