The United States government hit its $14 trillion borrowing limit Monday, forcing the Treasury Department to begin taking a series of extreme steps to stave off default, including suspending payments into public employee pension plans. 
 
 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sent letters to congressional leaders Monday to explain that his money shuffle will buy them until August 2 to reach a deal on the debt limit. After that, the government will default on its debts. 
 
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 “I have written to Congress on previous occasions regarding the importance of timely action to increase the debt limit in order to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens,” Geithner wrote Monday. “I again urge Congress to act to increase the statutory debt limit as soon as possible.” 
 
 Earlier this month, Geithner extended the drop-dead default date from July 8 to August 2. 
 
 Monday, the Treasury secretary said his predecessors had used the same maneuvers of temporarily stopping payment into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and Government Securities Investment Fund. 
 
 Geithner noted that both funds “will be made whole once the debt limit is increased” and that “federal retirees and employees will be unaffected by these actions” when Congress legislates to increase the nation’s borrowing capacity. 
 
 According to a POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll, 56 percent of voters think it will be ‘disastrous’ to the U.S. economy if Congress does NOT vote to increase the debt limit. 
 
 As serious as the debt limit is, politicians on the Hill are girding up for a broader debate on the debt, with multiple groups negotiating how to slash trillions in spending. 
 
 Democratic House leaders were in New York Monday speaking with financial executives and laying out their vision for deficit reduction. Speaker John Boehner delivered an address to Wall Street leaders last Monday. 
 
 Meanwhile, back in Washington, the staffs of lawmakers sitting on a bipartisan, bicameral panel with Vice President Joe Biden charged with coming up with long-term deficit solutions are slated to be working all week, even as House members are on recess. 
 
 But it won’t be easy. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week drew one of the strongest lines in the sand yet saying he would not be able to vote for an increase in the debt ceiling without “serious” reforms to entitlements like Medicaid and Medicare. And Democrats insist that any long-term plan has to include a discussion on raising tax revenue— a position that Republicans have said is untenable. 
 
 Boehner responded to Geithner’s most recent letter Monday afternoon, using it as yet another opportunity to issue a rallying cry on reducing spending. 
 
 “There will be no debt limit increase without serious budget reforms and significant spending cuts – cuts that are greater than any increase in the debt limit,” Boehner said in a statement. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Congress needs to act swiftly. 
 
 “We can’t afford to play these political games and trigger a default crisis that would lead to catastrophe. We can’t afford to make unrealistic demands or hold hostage policies that affect real people,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “The emergency we enter today isn’t about a penny of new spending. It’s not about new programs or new taxes. It’s not about creating new obligations, only meeting existing ones. The debt limit is about paying what we already owe.” 
 
 Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the top lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee also received Geithner’s letter. ||||| The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt. 
 
 Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With that limit reached Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills. 
 
 Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers. The measure won’t have an impact on retirees because the Treasury is legally required to reimburse the program. 
 
 The maneuver buys Geithner only a few months of time. If Congress does not vote by Aug. 2 to raise the debt limit, Geithner says the government is likely to default on some of its obligations, which he says would cause enormous economic harm and the suspension of government services, including the disbursal of Social Security funds. 
 
 Many congressional Republicans, however, have been skeptical that breaching the Aug. 2 deadline would be as catastrophic as Geithner suggests. What’s more, Republican leaders are insisting that Congress cut spending by as much as the Obama administration wants to raise the debt limit, without any new taxes. Obama is proposing spending cuts and tax increases to rein in the debt. 
 
 “Everything should be on the table, except raising taxes,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country.” 
 
 The Obama administration has warned that it is dangerous to make a vote on raising the debt limit contingent on other proposals. But Boehner is demanding that Congress use the debt vote as a way to bring down government spending. 
 
 “I’m ready to cut the deal today,” Boehner said. “We don’t have to wait until the 11th hour. But I am not going to walk away from this moment. We have a moment, a window of opportunity to act, because if we don’t act, the markets are going to act for us.” 
 
 Geithner’s plan to tap federal retiree programs as a temporary means to avoid a government default comes as the Obama administration has shown growing interest in altering those programs to curb the debt in the long run. 
 
 Administration officials have expressed interest in raising the amount that federal employees contribute to their pensions, sources told The Washington Post. 
 
 The Republicans have suggested that the civilian workforce contribute more to its retirement in the future, effectively trimming 5 percent from salaries. The administration has not been willing to go that far in talks being led by Vice President Biden. 
 
 Treasury secretaries have tapped special programs to avoid default six times since 1985. The most protracted delay in raising the debt limit came in 1995 after congressional Republicans swept to power during the Clinton administration. 
 
 But today, the government needs far more money to cover its obligations than in the past, making the special measures less effective than they used to be. The government needs about $125 billion more a month than it takes in each month. 
 
 In a letter released last week to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Geithner wrote that a default would risk a “double-dip” recession. 
 
 “Default would not only increase borrowing costs for the federal government, but also for families, businesses and local governments — reducing investment and job creation throughout the economy,” Geithner wrote. 
 
 But several prominent congressional Republicans have dismissed the Obama administration’s assertion that the country would face dire consequences if Congress does not vote to raise the federal limit on government borrowing by August. Many of the skeptics are affiliated with the tea party. 
 
 In the Senate, freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has said the Obama administration has been exaggerating the effects of hitting the default mark. He says breaching the limit would cause only a partial government shutdown. 
 
 Other freshman Republicans have said that Geithner could raise money to avoid defaulting by selling investments in private companies. The Republican Study Committee, which represents more than 150 lawmakers, sent a letter to Geithner last week pressing for more details about the Aug. 2 deadline. 
 
 More from The Washington Post: 
 
 READ: 2chambers: GOP, tea party less likely to see potential default as ‘disastrous’ 
 
 READ: Wonkbook: Happy debt-ceiling day! 
 
 READ: Boehner: It’s clear U.S. must raise debt limit 
 
 READ: A tale of many, many, many caps 
 
 READ: Debt ceiling, deficit solution: Epic federal yard sale? 
 
 SEE PHOTOS: Key players in debate over U.S. fiscal policy 
 
 CHART: A look at national debt and debt ceiling over past 30 years 
 
 READ: More news from Post Business ||||| WSJ's Paul Vigna reports the nation's nearly $14.3 trillion debt ceiling will be breached today. Also, NASDAQ withdrew its bid for the NYSE. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams, file) 
 
 The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default. 
 
 The Treasury Department said Monday it will stop issuing and reinvesting government securities in certain government pension plans, part of a series of steps designed to delay a default until Aug. 2. 
 
 The Treasury's moves buy time for the White House and congressional leaders to reach a deficit-reduction agreement that could clear the way for enough lawmakers to vote to raise the amount of money Congress allows the nation to borrow. 
 
 Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said reaching the debt ceiling "should be a warning bell to the political system that it's time to get serious about preserving our full faith and credit." The Obama administration says a default would tip the U.S. back into a financial crisis. 
 
 But the pathway to a deal remains unclear, even to those doing the negotiating. The White House and Republicans are giving conflicting signals about how close they are to a deal. Vice President Joe Biden said last week the contours of an agreement were taking shape. House Speaker John Boehner painted a different picture Sunday, saying on CBS's Face the Nation "I'm not seeing any real action." 
 
 Many Republicans and some Democrats have said they won't vote to increase the debt ceiling without an accompanying deal to cut spending or tackle such longer-term fiscal problems as health-care costs. They argue the debt ceiling is a good venue to force changes needed to help secure the nation's solvency. 
 
 People familiar with the negotiations led by Mr. Biden say they are looking at cuts to agriculture subsidies and federal retirement programs, stepped-up antifraud efforts, increased premiums for pension plans backed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the sale of wireless spectrum and government properties. 
 
 The talks are at an early stage and potential areas of agreement are preliminary, officials warn. But Democrats have not ruled out some thorny issues, according to people familiar with the negotiations, including reforms to the pension program for federal workers. 
 
 The areas being examined amount to a sliver of the $4 trillion goal officials have set for deficit reduction over the next 10 years. 
 
 And taxes remain a roadblock. Republican leaders say tax increases can't be part of any deficit plan, but White House officials have said any plan must include revenue increases. 
 
 Mr. Sperling said the White House wants an agreement "weeks in advance as opposed to being in stalemate in late July where everything is coming down to the wire." Mr. Boehner appeared to agree, saying Sunday a deal doesn't "have to wait until the eleventh hour." 
 
 A group of House Republicans has questioned the validity of the August deadline, suggesting the Treasury could sell assets, such as gold reserves, to keep paying creditors. Treasury officials have rejected the idea, but could be forced to rethink if talks stall. 
 
 The U.S. government has hit the debt ceiling before, most notably in 1995 and 1996 when the Clinton administration and House Republicans squared off over government spending. Eventually, though, lawmakers reached deals and the country hasn't defaulted on its debt in modern history. 
 
 Bankers and business executives warned lawmakers last week that default could trigger a financial crisis, sending interest rates soaring, which would make it harder for families and businesses to borrow. That's because a default would throw into question the value of U.S. Treasury securities, long considered one of the world's safest investments. Many loans and business deals are based on the value of Treasurys, and if their value eroded the impact would be felt broadly. 
 
 Because the government is projected to run a $1.5 trillion deficit this year, it must borrow money to cover its obligations, ranging from military spending to interest on existing debt. 
 
 Lawmakers have not felt pressure to act yet in part because markets have remained stable, and the yield for U.S. government debt remains low. 
 
 Juggling the Books Treasury has several steps it can take to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling Enlarge Image Close 
 
 Yields on 10-year Treasury notes have fallen from more than 3.7% in early February—when Fed officials and others began warning of catastrophic consequences if the debt limit was breached—to below 3.2%. 
 
 If investors had serious concerns about a default, they likely would be selling bonds, which would in turn push up their yields. Bond yields have instead been moving down in part because the economy seems to be slowing. Commodities prices also have tumbled, which holds down inflation and puts downward pressure on bond yields. 
 
 If officials get too close to Aug. 2, government officials might have to decide which of the country's creditors to pay and which payments they will suspend or stop. 
 
 Treasury officials so far have deflected questions about which creditors would be given priority. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to Sen. Michael Bennet (D., Colo.) last week that failing to raise the debt ceiling would lead to a default on obligations "such as payments to our service members, citizens, investors, and businesses." 
 
 —Jon Hilsenrath and Naftali Bendavid contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Damian Paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com
– Washington hit the debt ceiling today, barring the Treasury Department from borrowing from the public, so it will begin borrowing from federal workers’ pensions to keep the government afloat. Treasury is legally bound to reimburse the pensions, so retirees won't be affected, notes the Washington Post, but if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by Aug. 2, secretary Timothy Geithner warned again today that the US will hit default. Republicans, however, aren't buying Dems' dire predictions, and the Wall Street Journal notes that a deal is likely far off, though both sides appear to want to avoid coming down to the wire. “There will be no debt-limit increase without serious budget reforms and significant spending cuts that are greater than any increase in the debt limit,” John Boehner said today, Politico reports. Consensus on where cuts might focus remains vague, but federal pension reform is said to be among items on the chopping block. Since 1985, the government has borrowed from special programs six times to prevent default—but this time, it needs much more money.