Jamie Dimon on debt ceiling: 'Not something we should be playing around with'
The federal government reached the debt limit Thursday
RealClear Markets editor John Tamny discusses if Biden and Republicans can reach a debt limit deal on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast."
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Thursday weighed in on the debt ceiling, saying it is "not something we should be playing around with."
He said during a CNBC interview that people "should never question the credit worthiness" of the U.S. government and described it as "sacrosanct."
"Now, of course Democrats are going to blame the Republicans, and Republicans are going to blame the Democrats. I don’t care who blames who," Dimon went on to say. "Even questioning it is the wrong thing to do."
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"That is just a part of the financial structure of the world, and this is not something we should be playing games with at all," he added regarding the debt ceiling.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, speaks during the Institute of International Finance annual membership meeting in Washington, on Oct. 13, 2022. (Ting Shen / Bloomberg via Getty Images / AP Newsroom)
The federal government hit its debt limit of around $31.4 trillion on Thursday. Roughly $24.5 trillion of America’s total public debt outstanding consists of debt held by the public, while about $6.9 trillion is intragovernmental holdings, according to the latest data from the Treasury Department.
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On the same day, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress in a letter of the "extraordinary measures" the department "began using today" to avoid a default, calling on lawmakers to "act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States."
There have been 78 separate instances of Congress moving to "permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition" of the debt limit in the last 63 years, according to the Treasury Department. The last time it was raised was in December 2021, when lawmakers voted to do so.
Dimon previously discussed the "potentially disaster outcomes" that could occur "on the day that America can’t pay its debt" last week during an interview with "Mornings with Maria" host Maria Bartiromo.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon looks on during the inauguration of the new French headquarters of JPMorgan bank, June 29, 2021, in Paris. (AP Photo / Michel Euler / Pool / AP Newsroom)
Jamie Dimon (Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images / File / Getty Images)
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"Once American debt goes into default, a lot of people can’t own it anymore, and American debt doesn’t cross-default, but it’s cumulative," he said. "The [Treasury bill] defaults, and the next week T-bill defaults, the next week T-bill defaults, pension plans have to sell."
Kristen Altus and Megan Henney contributed to this report.