DEPARTMENT
OF
THE
TREASURY
SECRETARY
OF
THE
TREASURY
The
Honorable
John
A.
Boehner
Speaker
U.S.
House
ofRepresentatives
Washington,
DC
20515
Dear
Mr.
Speaker:
WASHINGTON,
D.C.
September
25,
2013
I
am
writing
to
follow
up
on
my
previous
letter
regarding
the
debt
limit
and
the
Department
of
the
Treasury's
ability
to
continue
to
finance
the
government.
As
I
have
written
previously,
Treasury's
estimates
are
subject
to
inherent
variability
due
to
a
variety
of
factors,
such
as
the
impact
of
sequestration
and
the
challenges
of
forecasting
the
timing
and
amount
of
daily
government
transactions.
On
August
26,
I
wrote
to
inform
you
that
the
extraordinary
measures
we
are
employing
to
preserve
borrowing
capacity
would
be
exhausted
in
the
middle
of
October.
We
estimated
that,
at
that
point,
we
would
have
approximately
$50
billion
to
fund
the
government-an
amount
insufficient
to
cover
net
expenses
for
a
meaningful
period
of
time.
Since
August,
we
have
received
quarterly
corporate
and
individual
tax
receipts
and
additional
information
regarding
the
activities
of
certain
large
trust
funds,
including
military
retirement
trust
funds.
Treasury
now
estimates
that
extraordinary
measures
will
be
exhausted
no
later
than
October
17.
We
estimate
that,
at
that
point,
Treasury
would
have
only
approximately
$30
billion
to
meet
our
country's
commitments.
This
amount
would
be
far
short
of
net
expenditures
on
certain
days,
which
can
be
as
high
as
$60
billion.
If
we
have
insufficient
cash
on
hand,
it
would
be
impossible
for
the
United
States
of
America
to
meet
all
of
its
obligations
for
the
first
time
in
our
history.
The
House
of
Representatives
recently
passed
legislation
that
includes
an
ill-advised
provision
to
prioritize
payments,
which
would
not
protect
the
full
faith
and
credit
of
the
United
States.
Any
plan
to
prioritize
some
payments
over
others
is
simply
default
by
another
name.
The
United
States
should
never
have
to
choose,
for
example,
whether
to
pay
Social
Security
to
seniors,
pay
benefits
to
our
veterans,
or
make
payments
to
state
and
local
jurisdictions
and
health
care
providers
under
Medicare and
Medicaid.
There
is
no
way
of
knowing
the
damage
any
prioritization
plan
would
have
on
our
economy
and
financial
markets.
It
would
represent
an
irresponsible
retreat
from
a
core
American
value:
We
are
a
nation
that
honors
all
of
its
commitments.
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