Treasury tells Congress it will suspend some federal retirement funding after debt limit breach

The U.S. Treasury has suspended full funding of a federal employee retirement benefit program after the government reached its debt ceiling. The move is one of the so-called

extraordinary measures Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is taking to avoid default until Congress raises the federal borrowing limit. Yellen said the agency can no longer invest

fully in the Government Securities Investment fund until the debt ceiling is raised or suspended. Once that happens, the retirement fund will be "made whole," she wrote. The

U.S. Treasury will suspend full funding of a federal retirement program, the latest in a string of actions it has taken to prevent default after the government hit its debt

ceiling, Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders Tuesday. The Treasury is taking so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills after it breached its

$31.4 trillion borrowing limit on Thursday. Yellen has said she expects the actions to prevent default at least until June 5. This is the third action the Treasury has

taken to ensure the government, restricted from borrowing amid debt ceiling negotiations, still has enough money to pay its bills. Last week, Yellen suspended new investments in

the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund until June 5. Lawmakers are trying to strike a deal to lift the U.S.

borrowing limit and prevent a first-ever default on U.S. debt. Some members of the new Republican House majority have pushed to tie spending cuts to an increase in the borrowing

limit.