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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Congress on Monday to raise the debt ceiling with bipartisan support, instead of using a mechanism that would allow the measure to move forward only with the support of Democrats.
Yellen recalled in a statement that in recent years the Legislature has addressed the debt ceiling issue through “a regular order” with broad bipartisan support.
She stressed that during Donald Trump’s administration (2017-2021) Democrats and Republicans agreed on this issue three times, so she called on Congress to act with bipartisan support.
Precisely this Monday the Senate Democrats presented a budget initiative for 3.5 trillion dollars that does not include provisions on a debt ceiling increase, as some media had advanced last week, and that would have allowed them to approve it with 50 votes, which are the ones they have in that chamber.
Yellen’s statement, the first time Biden’s administration has taken a position on the issue, comes a week after the two-year deal to suspend the debt ceiling expired.
Now the Treasury Department is employing what it calls “extraordinary measures” to enable the country to meet its debt obligations.
In July, Yellen advised Congress that she was going to take “certain extraordinary measures” starting August 2 to prevent the Administration from defaulting on its obligations, such as suspending bond sales, the way the U.S. finances its debt.
The President, Democrat Joe Biden, will have to address this issue in the fall, or raise or suspend the debt limit.
