U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged Congress Friday to increase the debt ceiling, saying he is not confident extraordinary measures will last beyond Feb. 27.



In a letter addressed to House Speaker John Boehner, Lew highlighted that the Treasury must start implementing "extraordinary measures" to continue to pay the nation's bills because Congress has not acted to approve its normal borrowing authority.

In the past, the Treasury has managed to pay the bills for months after hitting the debt ceiling, using extraordinary measures to move cash from pocket to pocket.



But Lew said those measures would only buy about three weeks worth of time. By Feb. 27, the government anticipates having roughly $50 billion in cash and would have to rely on this cushion and incoming revenue to pay its bills.