Treasury Secretary calls debt limit process "somewhat ridiculous"

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told an audience at the Economic Club of D.C. that "we absolutely need to raise the debt ceiling every time we get close to hitting the debt ceiling." He called Congress' two-step protocol for spending money—in which it authorizes spending and the debt to finance it in separate votes—a "somewhat ridiculous process" because it leads the U.S. government to flirt with default every couple years.

Why it matters: This puts him squarely at odds with Congressional Republicans— some of whom booed and hissed when Mnuchin asked them to raise the limit at a Capitol Hill meeting in September.