WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday warned that a failure by Congress to act on the debt ceiling could trigger a “constitutional crisis,” with consequences for financial markets and interest rates.

Yellen in an interview on ABC News’s “This Week” said debt ceiling negotiations should not take place “with a gun to the head of the American people,” and reiterated a warning to lawmakers the government could pay its bills only through early June without increasing the limit, which the government hit in January.

Debt limit action should be ‘without conditions’: Yellen

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo also sounded the alarm on Sunday about the risks of a default during an interview on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show.”

“Default is catastrophic for the United States,” Adeyemo said. “If we were to default on our debt, it would have a terrible impact on interest rates.”

US President Joe Biden will meet at the White House on May 9 with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Democrats, kicking off a frantic few weeks of negotiation before the US runs out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1.