Lawmakers have until June 1 to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday.
Yellen told lawmakers she expects the U.S. to no longer be able to pay all of its outstanding obligations by as early as June 1, ramping up pressure on Congress and the White House to come to an agreement.
Yellen initially told lawmakers it was unlikely the federal government would exhaust the so-called extraordinary measures it has been using to continue paying its bills before early June. But now, citing recent tax revenues, Yellen said the deadline is expected to come sooner than expected.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress’s chief nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, also warned on Monday there is “significantly greater risk that the Treasury will run out of funds in early June,” citing lower-than-expected revenue in April.