Feds will be unable to pay all bills sooner than expected, due to new tax law

The U.S. government’s cash reserves are expected to run out faster than expected, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday, a result of lost revenue from last year’s tax cut law.

If the debt ceiling isn’t raised by the first half of March, CBO said, “the government would be unable to pay its obligations fully, and it would delay making payments for its activities, default on its debt obligations, or both.”

The White House and GOP leaders in Congress have repeatedly punted decisions on how to deal with the debt ceiling. This is in sharp contrast to the approach Republicans took during the Obama administration, when the GOP insisted on deep spending cuts in exchange for any vote to raise the debt ceiling.