Mick Mulvaney says he doesn’t believe in June 1 deadline for debt ceiling

Former White House aide Mick Mulvaney said Wednesday that he doesn’t believe the drop-dead date to raise the debt ceiling and prevent default is June 1, despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s repeated warnings.

“For the treasury secretary to miss the date, that’s fine. To miss it to the wrong side, that’s unheard of,” Mulvaney said in an interview with NewsNation’s “The Hill.” 

Rather, the former chief of staff to President Trump suggested that the default deadline was likely later.

“I don’t believe that Janet Yellen is stupid,” he added. “I think she’s a very smart lady. So, it gives me the impression there’s some politics in that. And I know if I’m thinking that there’s other Republicans on the Hill who are thinking that.”

Yellen warned lawmakers once again Monday that the U.S. could run out of cash as early as June 1.

“Time is running out. Every single day that Congress does not act, we are experiencing increased economic costs that could slow down the U.S. economy,” the Treasury secretary added at an event Tuesday.

President Biden met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other congressional leaders Tuesday but appeared to make little progress toward securing a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

However, Mulvaney noted that lawmakers have yet to publicly discuss any efforts to push back default in order to reach a deal, suggesting that there is some progress being made.

“It sounds like no one’s talking about that right now … and again, that’s another indication that they’re making progress,” he said. “Are those conversations probably happening at the staff level? Yeah. But I don’t think that becomes public. That’s a private conversation you have.” 

“To answer your question, when do you start raising alarm bells, would be when you start to see markets move,” Mulvaney added.