WASHINGTON — President Obama and Republicans can take the summer off from their fight over raising the debt limit.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew yesterday said an unexpected boost in tax revenue would help postpone the United States hitting its debt limit until September.
“Because of the cash flows, we can predict that we will be OK until Labor Day,” Lew told CNBC.
But Lew still urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling right away to avoid destabilizing the economy.
Government coffers suddenly were overflowing in April, with a rare surplus of $113 billion for the month, the largest monthly surplus in five years.
The higher tax rates on wealthy Americans and steady economic growth helped produce the flood of revenue.
The deficit for the first seven months of the budget year dropped to $488 billion, compared to $720 billion during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it had canceled plans to close 194 air traffic control towers at small airports because of the “sequestration” budget cuts.