Treasury maneuvers to hold off debt limit
By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press Writer | November 16, 2004

WASHINGTON --The government will carry out another accounting maneuver to avoid breaching the $7.4 trillion ceiling on the national debt, Treasury Secretary John Snow said Tuesday.

The step marks the latest move by Treasury to free up billions of dollars -- on paper -- so the government can keep paying its bills. Treasury is doing this because it is running out of room in its statutory authority to borrow.

In a letter to Congress, Snow said the department, starting Wednesday, will suspend new investments in Treasury securities that would be credited to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

"Beneficiaries will be fully protected and will suffer no adverse consequences," Snow wrote. The government would make up lost investments and interest payments once the government's borrowing authority has been boosted.

The accounting maneuver would free up around $4 billion, a Treasury spokeswoman said. She didn't know how long it would allow the government to keep paying its bills. The administration used this same account juggling in 2003 when it was dealing with a previous debt limit problem.

Snow called on Congress "to pass a debt limit increase immediately."

The Republican-controlled Congress put off dealing with the debt limit before adjourning in October, preferring not to force lawmakers to deal with the politically sensitive issue before the Nov. 2 elections.