Hatch presses regulators on Treasury’s debt limit deadline

{mosads}He added in his letter that Congress and the public are in the dark as to the Treasury’s actual financial status as Treasury’s deadline rapidly approaches. He would like the FSOC to rectify that.

“Many Americans and members of Congress are, unfortunately, relying on estimates and projections from either large Wall Street financial institutions or non-governmental organizations often labeled ‘think tanks,” he wrote. “The lack of information is unsatisfactory.”

Several financial institutions have recently suggested that due to strong tax receipts, the Treasury could pay its bills for potentially an additional week, but the Treasury is holding firm on the Aug. 2 deadline.

Hatch said the deadline “almost surely” has changed from Aug. 2 thanks to changes in cash flow, and asked FSOC members if they knew of any update to the timeline.

He also pressed regulators for detailed information about the Treasury’s books, giving them less than two days to respond. He also asked for any contingency plans the Treasury might put in place if the debt limit is not raised in time, or plans other regulators have to deal with a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating.