Yellen Warns ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Could Come Next Month

'No good options' if Congress doesn't pass debt ceiling bill, she says

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen participates in a Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) Evolution Roundtable during the annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the IMF headquarters in Washington on April 12, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she will not rule out the possibility of declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional if Congress cannot resolve its standoff over the debt ceiling, but said there are “no good options” on the table.

“There is no way to protect our financial system in our economy other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills. And we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt,” Yellen told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.