- Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen on Sunday said she opposed minting a trillion-dollar coin. - Doing so would be a last-ditch effort at avoiding an economic disaster if US lawmakers failed to raise the debt ceiling.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday doubled down on her opposition to minting a $1 trillion coin as a last-ditch solution to avoid the US defaulting on its debts.
"I wouldn't be supportive of the trillion-dollar coin. I think it's a gimmick. I think it jeopardizes the independence of the
"You would be asking to essentially print money to cover the deficit," Yellen told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "This is a shared bipartisan responsibility."
She noted the debt ceiling had been raised nearly 70 times since 1965 "almost always on a bipartisan basis."
"No one party is responsible for the need to do this. I believe it should be a shared responsibility, not the responsibility of any one party," she said.
-This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 10, 2021
Yellen's comments Sunday echo her previous comments about minting a trillion-dollar coin, which would help the US cover its debts and avoid an economic recession but would undermine faith in US institutions and bring the Federal Reserve into a partisan battle.
As Insider previously reported, the Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a measure that raised the debt ceiling through the beginning of December, preventing a default on the US' debt for now. The measure, which heads to the House for a vote next week, received no Republican support in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader
McConnell and his
While Republicans have been opposed to raising the debt ceiling, doing so would help pay for debts incurred under the administrations of former President Donald Trump and President
Some Republicans have opposed raising the debt ceiling because it could help finance Democrats' $3.5 trillion social spending package, arguing instead that Democrats should use party-line reconciliation to raise the limit. McConnell has made it clear that that's what he expects to happen in December.