Overseas Network, May 5th According to the “Washington Post” report on the 3rd, the United States may default on its debt on June 1st at the earliest, and the actual time left for the US government to negotiate the debt ceiling is only 6 days. A default may be inevitable.
With the U.S. Congress and the White House under pressure to meet an “X-date” deadline with extremely limited and rapidly depleting Treasury resources, the prospect of the U.S. government’s ability to meet all debt obligations is uncertain. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen recently warned members of Congress that “Day X” may come as soon as June 1. Yellen said that if the debt ceiling is not raised, U.S. companies will face deteriorating credit markets, and the U.S. government may not be able to lend to military families and the elderly who rely on Social Security. A default on U.S. debt would also lead to job losses while pushing up home mortgage, auto loan, and credit card payments.
Technically, congressional leaders and White House leaders have about a month to negotiate raising the government’s borrowing limit, but in reality, the parties may only have six days left to discuss a solution. The two sides may negotiate in the next seven working days, but May 16 is the last day for the two sides to meet. Afterwards, the head of the White House will have a foreign visit, and the two houses of Congress will also enter the adjournment period. At present, the two sides have not shown any intention to change the itinerary or extend the congressional session.
In addition, neither side has shown a willingness to compromise so far, so even if there are a few more days of negotiation time, the two sides will not reach a permanent solution. House Republicans want the White House to agree to spending cuts in exchange for their support for raising the debt ceiling. But the White House has made it clear that the government views spending cuts and the debt ceiling as separate issues and wants to raise the debt ceiling unconditionally.