Secretary Mnuchin says debt limit must increase before summer recess

Chris Jasurek
By Chris Jasurek
May 24, 2017Politics
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Secretary Mnuchin says debt limit must increase before summer recess
Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin testifies on the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget before a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, May 24, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP)—Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is urging lawmakers to pass legislation to increase the government’s borrowing limit before leaving on their August recess.

Mnuchin also urged the House Ways and Means Committee members to pass the debt limit legislation as a “clean” bill without controversial add-ons that could complicate its passage. He had previously said the deadline to act was sometime in the fall, in line with other analysts.

Congress must act to increase the debt limit to avert a first-ever, economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations like bond payments.

Mnuchin had previously advised that the deadline to for Congress to act—and avert a first-ever default on U.S. obligations—was sometime in the fall.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told the House Budget Committee that “receipts currently are coming a little bit slower than expected.”

Hard budget choices

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defendied the aggressive spending cuts in President Donald Trump’s budget. He says the “costs of excessive government commitments” has “forced us into hard choices.”

Mnuchin was appearing Wednesday before a House panel one day after the White House released Trump’s $4.1 trillion budget recommendation.

Mnuchin emphasized the need for tax cuts, and says his top priority is creating sustainable economic growth. He says the best way to achieve that is through tax reform and regulatory relief.

Republican Rep. Kevin Brady calls Trump’s proposals a “welcome change” because the budget envisions a balanced budget over the next decade.

Democratic Rep. Richard Neal says the budget “cuts program after program that middle class families rely on every day.”

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