WASHINGTON (AP) — Lower than expected tax revenues now mean that there is a “significant risk” that the federal government runs out of borrowing authority in the early part of September, adding urgency to Washington budget and debt talks that have yet to go anywhere.
That’s according to a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank and advocacy group.
Shai Akabas, the group’s economic policy director, says the main culprit is that tax revenues are persistently weaker than anticipated.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is delivering the same message in briefings with lawmakers. He is the lead Trump administration negotiator in talks on a bipartisan deal to lift the government’s borrowing cap and at the same time prevent automatic budget cuts from hitting both the Pentagon and domestic agencies.
