Treasury Is Putting Pressure on Congress to Fix the Debt Ceiling
The U.S. Capitol building stands at sunrise in Washington on July 19, 2017.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is either really confident Congress will address the debt ceiling by his “critical” Sept. 29 deadline, or he’s trying to pressure legislators to quickly resolve the episode.
Market observers were surprised by Monday’s announcement to sell $40 billion of cash management bills, or CMBs, on Tuesday. The 123-day CMB, which is the longest issue since October 2013, will leave the Treasury with less flexibility in managing the remaining headroom under the debt ceiling, Thomas Simons, senior economist at Jefferies, said in a note published Monday.