Jack Lew Says Obama Has Been Clear that He Will Not Negotiate Over Expanding Borrowing Limits

‘The president’s been very clear we are not going to be negotiating over the debt limit’

Jack Lew to GOP: Obama Won't Negotiate on Debt Limit (USA Today)

WASHINGTON -- President Obama won't bargain with GOP lawmakers over increasing the debt limit, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Tuesday.

The warning from Lew came one day after he formally notified House Speaker John Boehner in a letter that the federal government will hit the $16.7 trillion debt limit in mid-October.

Republican lawmakers, including Boehner, have called for the president to accept budget cuts or spending changes in exchange for hiking the nation's borrowing limit, a move that requires congressional approval. But Lew amplified Obama's call for the limit to be raised without conditions.

"The president's been very clear we are not going to be negotiating over the debt limit," Lew told CNBC. "Congress has already authorized funding, committed us to make expenditures," he said. "We're now in the place where the only question is will we pay the bills that the United States has incurred. The only way to do that is for Congress to act, for it to act quickly."

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