The Obama administration will be asking Congress to raise the debt limit in the coming days, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Tuesday.

{mosads}”I’m confident it will be executed in a matter of days, not weeks,” he told reporters.

The notification by the administration — which had been scheduled for last month — was delayed because Congress has been holding only pro forma sessions.

The White House will be asking Congress to raise the U.S. borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion. The move would mark the third and final increase from the debt-ceiling deal reached last year by Congress.

The United States reached the $15.194 trillion debt limit on Jan. 4, according to Treasury statements. 

Since that time, Treasury has employed the “extraordinary measure” of tapping into its Exchange Stabilization Fund in order to avoid exceeding the limit.

This story was posted at 1:42 p.m. and updated at 4:27 p.m.

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