China expected to try to take advantage of a U.S. debt default, U.S. intel chief says

China is expected to try to take advantage of any U.S. debt default and both Beijing and Moscow would seize the opportunity to push narratives about America's inability to function as a democracy, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday.

"I think our analysts would agree with you that it would be almost a certainty that they would look to take advantage of the opportunity," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The divided U.S. Congress is running out of time to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with the Treasury Department warning it could be unable to pay its bills as soon as June 1.