WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States could begin defaulting on its debts in August or September this year if lawmakers do not act, Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper said in a new report published Wednesday.

In January, the United States exceeded a roughly $36 trillion congressionally approved cap on the amount of money it can borrow, forcing the Treasury Department to take “extraordinary measures” to avert the risk of a government default.

The Treasury’s announcement came shortly before Donald Trump returned to office. He has asked lawmakers to deal with the debt ceiling as part of a package of tax-and-spend measures under discussion in Congress.

In its latest report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said if the debt limit remained unchanged, “the government’s ability to borrow using extraordinary measures will probably be exhausted in August or September 2025.”

That date is later than some analysts had forecast, including the Bipartisan Policy Center, which on Tuesday predicted the so-called “X Date” could come as soon as mid-July.

The CBO said that its projections were “uncertain,” warning that if government borrowing needs were significantly greater than its forecasts, “the Treasury’s resources could be exhausted in late May or sometime in June, before tax payments due in mid-June are received.”

But, it added, it was also possible that the government’s borrowing needs could come in lower than forecast, allowing the Treasury “to continue financing government activities longer than expected.”