Deadline set by Treasury Department when Federal Government runs out of cash: Get ready for aggressive federal debt collection!

That warning – and the threat of a financial crisis – have become entangled in the budget and financial negotiations on Capitol Hill, where legislators are already engaged in a partisan battle that has led to a budget impasse that could shut down the federal government on Oct. 1.

Separately on Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Treasury would exhaust all its extraordinary measures and run out of free cash between Oct. 22 and Nov. 1.

In a letter to Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling in a clean bill and avoid any question of default.

“The president remains willing to negotiate over the future direction of fiscal policy, but he will not negotiate over whether the United States will pay its bills for past commitments,” Mr. Lew said."