White House expects bipartisan action by Congress to tackle debt ceiling

The White House on Friday said it expects Congress to act in a bipartisan manner to raise the debt limit, citing a letter sent to Congress by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging lawmakers to act as soon as possible. Yellen warned House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the Treasury Department will need to take "extraordinary measures" to prevent a U.S. default if Congress does not act by Aug. 1, and there was great uncertainty about how long those measures would last.

"We certainly expect Congress to act in a bipartisan manner, as they did three times under the prior administration, to raise the debt limit," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.