The Treasury secretary said the new ‘x date’ to force a debt limit increase will be determined once tax receipts are fully collected.
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered an update on budget reconciliation talks, suggesting that tax-related elements would be settled by July 4.
“The House is moving things along quickly, and the Senate is in lockstep,” Bessent told reporters on April 28 as he stood beside National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. “We think they are in substantial agreement.”
Congress’s reconciliation process allows the majority to advance a budget without being thwarted by a filibuster from the party in minority.
Timing matters as Republicans, who were elected into a majority in both chambers in November 2024, seek to deliver what President Donald Trump dubbed one “big, beautiful bill” full of his second-term agenda items on trade, deregulation, the border, and more.
Taxes and budget cuts have both been sticking points in negotiations.
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The House version of the two-track bill requires at least $1.5 trillion in budget cuts, while the Senate version’s minimum for cuts is just $4 billion, prompting concerns from fiscal hawks about the scale of proposed tax reductions. Moderates, meanwhile, worry about prospective modifications to Medicaid and, in some cases, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
House committees will mark up items in the budget this week.
Bessent, a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, is one of the “Big Six” Republicans who have been hammering out details of the budget reconciliation package.
In addition to Bessent, the “Big Six” consist of Hassett, Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), and Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-S.D.).
Thune did not immediately share his thoughts on reconciliation budget negotiations as he entered the Senate chamber.
Bessent was also asked about the “X date” for federal debt—the point at which the United States will no longer be able to exercise extraordinary measures to borrow money.
In March, the Congressional Budget Office pegged it at August or September. Congress would need to make cuts or raise the debt limit ahead of that point.
“We do not have a new X date yet,” Bessent said, telling reporters that paper tax filings were still being processed. “I can tell you that revenues are up from last year, and we may have a better calculation toward the end of the week or next week.”
He said the United States would not risk missing that date because of reconciliation negotiations.
