Yellen warns U.S. Treasury won't have enough cash to last long after Dec. 3 debt deadline


Continuing her long crusade to get Congress to do something, anything about the country's debt limit, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told NPR she'll be advising Congress soon as to how long "lawmakers have to raise or suspend the debt limit before the government runs out of cash," Bloomberg reports.
"We may be able to get past Dec. 3, we may have the resources to do that, but not a great deal of time after that," Yellen said in an interview with NPR taped Monday, per Bloomberg. Since last month, the treasury has been using "extraordinary measures" to keep the government from running out of money. Around the same time, lawmakers averted disaster by temporarily raised the debt limit through Dec. 3, though there is no measure set for after that. Yellen on Monday also said she'd soon be "issuing new guidance about what we've learned since that time about how long they can go."
There is currently no plan in place as to how Congress will address the impending Dec. 3 deadline. If the Treasury does run out of cash, the U.S. would then "default on its financial obligations," explains Bloomberg, sending "credit markets into chaos, increase U.S. borrowing costs for an extended period and damage U.S. credibility throughout the world." Read more at Bloomberg.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
July 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include generational ennui, tariffs on Canada, and a conspiracy rabbit hole
-
5 unusually elusive cartoons about the Epstein files
Cartoons Artists take on Pam Bondi's vanishing desk, the Mar-a-Lago bathrooms, and more
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
How will Trump's megabill affect you?
Today's Big Question Republicans have passed the 'big, beautiful bill' through Congress