on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Besant reiterated his warning that the Treasury Department is on a "warning track" of exhausting its ability to avoid breaking the federal debt ceiling, but he did not provide a specific timetable. Besant said in response to questions from the House Appropriations Committee that when we believe we are approaching the so-called "X day," we will share with Congress. "X day" refers to the date on which the Treasury Department will be unable to pay all government bills on time. He said the Treasury Department is still tallying the latest tax revenues from the tax season. The debt ceiling reappeared in early January, and the Treasury Department has been using special accounting maneuvers to avoid breaching the limit while maintaining payments on federal debt. Wall Street analysts estimate that the Treasury Department will need Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling by August to October. Besant said, "We are on a warning track." He also reiterated that the US government will never default and promised that the Treasury Department will not use "gimmicks" to circumvent the debt ceiling.