WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will hit its borrowing limit next week, forcing the new, divided Congress into negotiations over the debt limit much sooner than expected, though a potential date for the nation to default isn’t expected until this summer.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to Congress on Friday afternoon, telling leaders the United States will hit the debt ceiling on Jan. 19, after which she’ll use accounting maneuvers, which she called “extraordinary measures,” to keep U.S. finances up and running for a few months.
Yellen urged the Republican House and Democratic Senate to get to work on a bipartisan debt limit bill quickly, writing it is “critical that Congress act in a timely manner.” The January date is much sooner than the third quarter of this year, the preliminary estimate the Bipartisan Policy Center…
