The Trump administration wants Congress to raise the debt ceiling before the August recess, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday, and does not want any conditions attached to it.
“I urge you to raise the debt limit before you leave for summer,” Mnuchin told the House Ways and Means Committee.
He added that the administration wants a “clean” debt ceiling vote, meaning that it is not tied to spending cuts or other changes.
Mnuchin is facing an earlier deadline for raising the debt ceiling than previously projected because of weaker-than-expected government revenues, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said earlier Wednesday.
“My understanding is that the receipts currently are coming in a little bit slower than expected, and you may soon hear from Mr. Mnuchin regarding a change in the date,” Mulvaney said at a House Budget Committee hearing.
The Congressional Budget Office had projected that the debt ceiling might need to be raised in the fall, with outside estimates suggesting that October or November might be the deadline.
If Congress is forced to act before the August recess, other legislative initiatives could be forced to the backburner.
And getting a clean debt limit hike from congressional Republicans is not guaranteed. Under President Obama, Republicans demanded spending cuts for increases in the statutory limit.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus, the group of hard-line conservatives, announced later Wednesday that they would oppose an increase in the limit without spending cuts.
“[W]e oppose any clean raising of the debt ceiling, we call for the debt ceiling to be addressed by Congress prior to the August Recess, and we demand that any increase of the debt ceiling be paired with policy that addresses Washington’s unsustainable spending by cutting where necessary, capping where able, and working to balance in the near future,” the caucus said in a statement.
The government bumped up against the $20 trillion debt ceiling in March, when it was reinstated at that level after Congress suspended it. The treasury secretary has the ability to shift funds around to make payments as they come due for a matter of months, but at some point he will be unable to guarantee making all payments on time and in full. Missing a payment would have unknown and potentially catastrophic effects.
Mnuchin previously asked congressional leaders to raise the limit “at the first opportunity.”
Mulvaney said Wednesday that he met with Mnuchin Tuesday night to discuss raising the debt limit, but that the administration has not settled on a strategy for moving legislation through Congress.
This post was updated with new information throughout Wednesday afternoon.
