DEB IT-LIMIT DEAL MAY B E NECESSARY, MNUCHIN SAYS

WASHINGTON» Congress might need to extend the government’s crucial ability to borrow money before leaving the Capitol for its August recess, Trump administration officials said Wednesday. The timetable would heap extraordinary pressure on lawmakers to cut a deal on a measure that usually requires lengthy and politically delicate negotiations.

The remarks by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin came two days after the Bipartisan Policy Center, a centrist research organization, projected that lower than expected federal revenue could drain the government’s cash by early September. Unless Congress extends the debt limit first, that could mean an unprecedented federal default, which many think could batter the economy.

“That is something we’re having discussions about, updating the numbers and potentially the need to do something before everybody leaves” for the summer recess, Mnuchin told reporters.

The treasury secretary spoke after he and other top White House officials met for about an hour with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

A vote to extend the government’s power to borrow money is a painful one for many lawmakers, especially Republicans, because many voters view the measure inaccurately as a reason for massive federal deficits, rather than a result of them.

The House is due to leave town on July 26, the Senate on Aug. 2.