Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Congress through a letter that her department started implementing “extraordinary measures” after the U.S. government reached its statutory debt limit of $31.4 trillion on Thursday.
Yellen told congressional leaders in the Thursday letter that the Department of the Treasury will suspend investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund from Thursday through June 5.
“By law, the CSRDF and the PSRHBF will be made whole once the debt limit is increased or suspended. Federal retirees and employees will be unaffected by these actions,” she wrote in the letter.
“I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” Yellen added.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited the need for bipartisan cooperation in Congress to address the debt ceiling during a press briefing Wednesday.
“Our outreach is deliberate to ensure Congress knows that the debt ceiling must be addressed, again, without conditions,” Jean-Pierre said.