The clock is already ticking on the next debt ceiling fight

Congress was able to avoid what experts say would be a catastrophic economic crisis by raising the debt limit in the short term last week, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the recent increase in the debt ceiling provides only a "short reprieve" before the U.S. is set to run out of money to pay its bills again.

The Treasury Department will need to use so-called extraordinary measures, such as suspending some securities sales and not investing in funds, to make sure the government can meet debt obligations through December 3, Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders Monday. If the U.S. is unable to pay its bills, the country would go into default for the first time ever.

Last week, the House passed a bill to raise the debt limit by $480 billion, keeping the government solvent into early December. It came after Republicans in the Senate backed off  their threat of a filibuster allowing Senate Democrats to pass the short-term bill the week before after a weeks-long standoff.