The US government will be unable to pay its bills by June 1 if the debt limit is not raised (Credit: Epic10.com/ CC-By-SA-2.0/ Flickr)

On May 1, 2023, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling immediately. She warned that if the US government were not allowed to borrow more, it would be unable to meet its obligations by early June 2023. They include things like Social Security and Medicare payments. The government would also be unable to make interest payments on money borrowed in the past. This would result in a US debt default.