The US government is hurtling towards an unprecedented debt default in roughly two weeks’ time if lawmakers do not act to raise the federal limit on borrowing and enable the Treasury department to pay government commitments already approved by Congress.
Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has warned that a failure to service these obligations would result in a “catastrophe”, igniting a painful economic recession and disastrous financial collapse as borrowing costs spike and the creditworthiness of the US takes a hit.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, told Democratic lawmakers on Monday that they must deliver a bill to raise the debt ceiling to the president’s desk by the end of the week. But it remains unclear how that will be done, given Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, remains steadfastly opposed to lifting the borrowing limit.