Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says that he has now begun using all the extraordinary measures at his disposal to avoid hitting the debt ceiling.
In a letter to congressional leaders late Tuesday, Lew said that he started to use the final three bookkeeping tools available to provide borrowing room for paying the nation's bills. Lew said that there are no other "legal and prudent" options for extending the borrowing authority.
Lew said that his assessment of the date he will run out of maneuvering room had not changed from last week. Lew told Congress on Sept. 25 that the extraordinary measures would be exhausted no later than Oct. 17 and at that time the government would have about $30 billion in cash on hand.