Powell, Yellen warn of ‘devastating’ impact of US debt default
Al Jazeera
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before lawmakers on Tuesday to urge them to avoid the ‘devastating’ consequences of a government shutdown and debt default.
Continue funding the United States government — or the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic could grind to a halt just as the Delta variant threatens hard-won progress. That’s the urgent message Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell conveyed to US lawmakers on Tuesday.
Yellen and Powell testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs about the progress that has been made in bringing the US back from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of 1929-1939. They also warned in no uncertain terms about the risks that remain if Congress fails to pass a bill to fund the government and raise the country’s debt ceiling next month.
On Monday, Senate Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill that would avert a government shutdown by October 1 and a federal debt default that is expected in mid to late October.
