WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the Trump Administration will soon release its estimate for when the U.S. could run out of cash to meet its obligations, adding that the debt ceiling is already “on the warning track,” Politico reported.
Bessent, during testimony before a House appropriations subcommittee Tuesday, said Treasury was still tallying the massive influx of federal tax receipts that came in around the April 15 filing deadline as it works to come up with a more precise forecast for when the U.S. will exhaust its borrowing capacity — known as the X-date, Politico said.
The date is widely viewed as an unofficial deadline for congressional Republicans to pass their sweeping package of tax, border, and energy policies, as GOP leaders have tied a debt ceiling increase to the partisan bill—eliminating the need for Democratic support, Politico said.
Bessent previously said that he would update Congress on the X-date in the first half of May. He said Tuesday that estimate would be “forthcoming.”
“Just as an outfielder running for a fly ball, we are on the warning track,” Bessent said during testimony before a House appropriations subcommittee Tuesday. “And when you’re on the warning track, it means the wall’s not far away.”
The U.S. debt limit was reinstated at $36.1 trillion on Jan. 2. Treasury since January has been relying on special accounting maneuvers to continue paying the nation’s bills while avoiding breaching that statutory borrowing cap, Politico added.