White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyOn The Money: House panel pulls Powell into partisan battles | New York considers hiking taxes on the rich | Treasury: Trump's payroll tax deferral won't hurt Social Security Blockchain trade group names Mick Mulvaney to board Mick Mulvaney to start hedge fund MORE insisted Friday that the U.S. would not default on its debt as Congress gears up this summer to debate raising the debt ceiling.

“If the debt ceiling is not raised, you have some difficulties. There’s no question,” Mulvaney said in an interview with The New York Times.

“There is absolutely no way that the U.S. will ever default on its debt. We are not going to do that,” he added.

Mulvaney's comments come as the White House and Congress prepare for a fight over passing a debt ceiling bill. The Trump administration has pushed for the debt ceiling to be raised before lawmakers leave town for the August recess.

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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told lawmakers last week he preferred a “clean” spending limit increase, meaning nothing would be attached to the bill. But Mulvaney said he would like to see the increase combined with other reforms or spending cuts.

President Trump’s National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn on Friday also said that spending reforms could be needed to pass a debt ceiling bill through Congress.

“Every Treasury secretary would love to have a clean debt ceiling, I understand that. I think in a perfect world you’d love to have a clean debt ceiling. But if we need to get things attached to get it through, we'll attach things,” he said on CNBC.

House Republicans could pass a debt ceiling resolution without Democrats, if the conservative House Freedom Caucus is on board. However Senate Republicans will likely need votes from Democrats, who have argued for a clean bill.