Biden has spent weeks warning about dire economic consequences if Congress fails to approve more federal borrowing before the government runs out of money on Oct. 18.
A default on U.S. debt could imperil payments to active-duty personnel, veterans and defense contractors, and harm national security, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, the latest warning from the Biden administration about the consequences if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by Oct.18 — a deadline Senate Republicans offered to let Democrats extend Wednesday afternoon. “If the United States defaults, it would undermine the economic strength on which our national security rests,” Austin said in a statement. Congress has raised or suspended the debt ceiling — a cap on total borrowing — dozens of times over the last few decades. The last suspension ended two months ago, forcing the U.S. Treasury to use “extraordinary measures” to stave off a default, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expects these tools to run out by Oct.
