Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Tuesday that Congress should act quickly to raise the nation’s debt limit when it returns from its five-week summer recess.
Mr. Lew said that President Obama has been very clear that his administration is not going to negotiate over the nation’s borrowing limit.
“What we need in our economy is some certainty,” Mr. Lew said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We don’t need another self-inflicted wound. We don’ need another crisis of the last minute. Congress should come back and it should act.”
Mr. Lew informed members of Congress on Monday that the government will only be able to continuing borrowing money through mid-October before the treasury department runs into the legal limit on U.S. debt.
The notification came as lawmakers gear up for another annual fight over spending bills, which must be passed before the end of September.
The national debt stood at $16.738 trillion last week.
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House Speaker John A. Boehner is demanding that for every dollar increase in the nation’s debt ceiling there should be a dollar in spending cuts.
Mr. Lew also said that the Obama administration would not accept a delay in funding of Obamacare.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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