The U.S. Treasury Department can keep preventing a debt default for an estimated five to eight more months using its “extraordinary measures” put in place by Secretary Janet Yellen if Congress does nothing to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. The Congressional Budget Office’s prediction on Wednesday means the government would need to delay payments or default on its debt or do both if nothing is passed. The last date depends on tax revenues the IRS will receive in April, and if the revenues are less than CBO’s predictions then “the extraordinary measures could be exhausted sooner, and Treasury could run out of funds before July,” according to a Wednesday statement from CBO director Phillip Swagel. The CBO also believes the deficit will be $18.8 trillion in the next decade, which is about 20 percent higher than CBO’s $15.7 trillion prediction in May, 2022.