DELAYS ON DEBT LIMIT COST TAXPAYERS BILLIONS

As Congress lurches toward a last-minute vote to raise the debt limit next month, its procrastination costs taxpayers billions.

In March, the U.S. government hit its debt ceiling — the amount of money it can legally borrow to pay bills. To avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has had to take short-term measures to pay the country’s debts at an extra cost to taxpayers of at least $2.5 billion.

That money could have been used for programs that benefit Americans if Congress had acted quickly to raise the limit.

Lawmakers are likely to act by the end of September, just before the government runs out of money to pay its bills.

That will be too late to recoup the taxpayer money that has already been lost.