Yellen reaffirms June deadline to prevent US debt default.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the US government could run out of cash to pay its bills by early June, putting the country on a collision course for a potentially catastrophic default on its financial obligation. Yellen said she planned to update Congress "shortly, and to try to increase the level of precision" regarding the so-called X-date – or the day when the government can no longer pay its bills. The debt ceiling, which is currently around $31.4 trillion, is the legal limit on the total amount of debt that the federal government can borrow on behalf of the public, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries and tax refunds.