
“Extraordinary Measures” for Debt Ceiling!
Washington DC, Jan 17 (EFE).-
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Friday that her department will adopt “extraordinary measures” starting next week to avoid overcoming the debt ceiling.
Yellen communicated this in a letter to the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, just three days before US President Joe Biden hands over power to Donald Trump.

Yellen said the Treasury will begin using these “extraordinary measures” on Jan. 21, a day after the new Republican president is sworn in.
To avoid crossing the debt limit, the Treasury will stop making contributions to accounts such as the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
These contributions must be repaid once Congress increases or suspends the debt limit.

“The period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. Government months into the future,” said Yellen.
“The debt limit does not authorize new spending, but it creates a risk that the federal government might not be able to finance its existing legal obligations that Congresses and Presidents of both parties have made in the past,” she added.
The current debt of the United States stands over $36 trillion.
“I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” Yellen said.
Trump too asked the Congress, when negotiating in December a budget extension, to include a suspension of the debt limit, but some Republicans, worried about debt growth, rejected it. EFE

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