Outgoing Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called Wednesday for Congress to overhaul the debt ceiling so that it can no longer be used to threaten default by the federal government, calling the current law “nihilistic” and a “weapon that irresponsible actors in Congress can use to threaten our economic well-being.”

Lew’s criticism of the federal debt ceiling, published in the Harvard Journal of Legislation, comes just weeks before President-elect Trump is set to take office. Traditionally, Congress has used the debt ceiling as a tool for extracting concessions out of the White House. The debt ceiling will have to be raised in March or the Trump Treasury Department will have to use extraordinary measures to free up cash to pay incoming bills, buying several months of time.