Janet Yellen Gives New June 5 Deadline on Debt Ceiling–Gives Cover to Biden for Holiday Weekend Vacation
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter Friday afternoon to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that extends the debt ceiling deadline from June 1 to June 5. The letter comes as negotiations remain deadlocked as Joe Biden heads out of town for the holiday weekend. With no deal in sight, McCarthy told the House to go home until he calls them back for a vote, which he has said will abide by the 72 hour rule for members to review the deal.
Biden is headed to Camp David on Friday and is set to stay until Sunday when he will head to his Wilmington, Delaware home. On Monday Biden will lead the Memorial Day remembrance at Arlington Cemetery.
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McCarthy said he will remain in D.C. for the weekend.
I’m staying in DC to fight for an agreement that’s worthy of the American people—for as long as it takes.
I will continue the fight to curb inflation, stop reckless spending, make our economy stronger, and end our dependence on China.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 26, 2023
McCarthy told reporters on Friday he believes “progress” has been made.
Even as she gave the negotiators a few more days to hammer out an agreement, Yellen used a threat of not having enough money to fund Social Security and Medicare as a fear tactic against McCarthy.
Also, after demands from Republicans to show financial numbers to back up her deadline, Yellen included some in her letter.
WASHINGTON (@CNN) — US Treasury provides new **June 5th** X-date as negotiations continue over debt ceiling impasse. Full letter from Secretary Yellen to Speaker McCarthy here: pic.twitter.com/MNmuXeU5kz
— Mike Valerio (@ValerioCNN) May 26, 2023
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I am writing to follow up on my previous letters regarding the debt limit and to provide additional information regarding the Treasury Department’s ability to continue to finance the operations of the federal government. Since January, I have highlighted to you the risk that Treasury would be unable to satisfy all of our obligations by early June if Congress did not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time. In my letters, I also noted that I would continue to update Congress as more information became available. Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy
Source: The Gateway Pundit
