Treasury secretary on debt ceiling debate: 'It's flirting with a self-inflicted crisis'

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that the debate over the US debt ceiling amounts to "flirting with a self-inflicted crisis" but that everyone "breathed a sigh of relief" after Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to avert economic disaster.

"It's important that we have met that deadline and didn't go, you know -- it looks like it will be voted on this evening -- that we haven't gone right up against the wire. But we do need to settle it longer term," Yellen told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront."

"You know, what we're really talking about here is can you count on the government to pay its bills? It's not about future spending or taxes. We've incurred bills. Can the government be counted on to pay those bills? And Americans, whether it's people waiting for a Social Security check or military pay or bondholders who regard US Treasuries as the safest asset in the world, they need to never question that the United States will pay its bills."