The Treasury Department notified Congress Thursday that it’s taking “extraordinary measures” as the federal government reached its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion.
With no deal in sight between the White House and House Republicans to extend the nation’s borrowing authority, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to Congress that Treasury has begun taking the steps.
The moves include instituting a “debt issuance suspension period” beginning Thursday and running through June 5. Treasury also will not fulfill certain investments, including to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.
“As I stated in my January 13 letter, the period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.