Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday that she may have to take “extraordinary measures” to keep the federal government functioning if lawmakers can’t raise or suspend the debt limit—a warning that comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson navigates the tricky issue of maintaining GOP support.
“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” Yellen wrote in a letter to members of Congress. The “extraordinary measures” are expected to be required between Jan. 14 and Jan. 23, according to Yellen.
In addition to presenting a challenge to the incoming Trump administration, which has preferred the debt ceiling issue be resolved by Inauguration Day, its especially thorny for Johnson due to the slim Republican margins in the House.
A raised debt ceiling without the support of any Democrats would mean only a couple of Republican defections could be afforded. But as history has shown, some of the more hard-line members of the GOP could easily reject any deal. In turn, Johnson’s role as speaker could be jeopardized.
Without a speaker being elected, among the resulting issues could be the House’s inability to certify the 2024 election results on Jan. 6, since the newly elected speaker has to swear in the members to conduct their business.
The Constitution states that each new Congress begins at noon on Jan. 3. In June 2023, President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to suspend the debt limit. The suspension is currently expected to end on Jan. 2.