„Will the debt ceiling … have to be raised? Yes,“ said Ryan, who leads Republican efforts to slash deficit spending.
But he called for deep spending cuts in 2012 and the Pentagon announced it would trim its budget by $78 billion as both government and opposition in Washington vied to outdo each other in promises of tighter spending.
Geithner said the federal government may hit the ceiling by March 31 on the amount of debt it is legally allowed to issue, and urged Congress to raise it before then to avoid pushing the United States into default.