Failure to Raise U.S. Debt Cap Seen Idling 800,000 Workers
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The U.S. government wouldn’t be able to fund about 50 percent of its obligations and would have to furlough about 800,000 federal workers if Congress fails to approve an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, a coalition of former budget officials says.
Sometime in the first half of August, no funding would be available for the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Education, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as unemployment insurance and Internal Revenue Service refunds, according to a report by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.