Mitch McConnell needs to stop playing games with the debt ceiling

The BPC estimates that between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15, the Treasury Department would have $666 billion in bills to pay but only $401 billion on hand to pay them. As the chart above shows, if the United States paid the interest on Treasury securities, federal salaries, Social Security benefits, etc., it could end up leaving unemployment insurance, military retirement benefits and pandemic relief for state and local governments unpaid (see chart below).