The debt limit U.S. interest rates will need to be raised before June 1 to keep the country paying its obligations beyond the 15th, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned today, as negotiations between the White House and Republicans appeared to have stalled. in deadlock.

“There is still uncertainty regarding tax revenues and fiscal expenditures. And so it’s hard to be certain, but my assessment is that the chances of us getting to June 15th being able to pay all our bills are relatively small,” Yellen said in an interview with NBC television. “I mentioned in my last letter to Congress (as of last Monday) that we anticipate not being able to pay all of our bills beginning in June, possibly as early as June 1,” she recalled, clarifying that her estimate did not has changed.

The White House and the opposition are racing against time to agree to raise the debt limit so the world’s largest economy avoids default. But today the negotiations were at an impasse, mainly because the two sides are at odds over the cuts demanded by Republicans. President Joe Biden, who is in Japan for the G7 summit, is set to speak by phone with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican.

It is also considering invoking the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States (…) shall not be questioned.” Yellen, however, assessed that this cannot be done under the current circumstances, due to the legal uncertainty and the limited time available to the government. “Unless the debt limit is raised, tough decisions will have to be made on unpaid bills,” he reiterated.