Lawmakers have until August to address the debt ceiling or the US could default on its obligations for the first time ever, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote to congressional leaders Friday, urging them to act even sooner,

The projected ‘X-date,’ or the day on which the country risks missed payments on loans, gives lawmakers only three months to avoid financial disaster.

The government will exhaust resources to pay its bills in August, but Congress will be gone nearly all of that month.