Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has told Congress that the government will run out of money to pay its bills in mid-October unless lawmakers raise the country’s borrowing limit, which is capped at $16.7 trillion.
Lew said in a letter to Speaker John Boehner released yesterday that the government is running out of accounting maneuvers it has used to avoid hitting the borrowing limit. He pressed Congress to act so Treasury can keep paying the government’s bills.
Lew said it’s impossible for Treasury to predict exactly when the borrowing limit will be reached. But he warns that if action isn’t taken soon, the government could be left with $50 billion in cash by mid-October. He says that wouldn’t be enough to cover Social Security payments, military personnel salaries, Medicare and other programs for an “extended period.”
Earlier this year, Congress temporarily suspended the borrowing limit so lawmakers could focus on other budget debates. Treasury has kept the government operating for several months through its bookkeeping maneuvers. A smaller deficit this year has also helped.
The government is spending more than it takes in, running up annual deficits in excess of $1 trillion in each of the past four years. It has been borrowing the difference to meet its obligations.