WASHINGTON (Reuters] – If Republicans don’t act in a bipartisan way to avoid a nation default, Congress Democrats need to address the debt limit. This is what Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary told the Washington Post Monday in an interview.

In October, lawmakers temporarily increased the federal government’s borrowing limit from $28.9 trillion to reflect legislation that President Joe Biden signed. This allowed the U.S. Treasury the ability to continue paying debts until early December.

Yellen has repeatedly urged Congress for bipartisan action to increase the U.S. government’s borrowing authority. Otherwise, it could lead to dangerous economic consequences.

It should be on a bipartisan basis. Absolutely. Now, if they’re not going to cooperate, I don’t want to play chicken and end up not raising the debt ceiling. I think that’s the worst possible outcome,” Yellen told The Washington Post on Sunday as she traveled to Dublin.

“If Democrats have to do it by themselves, that’s better than defaulting on the debt to teach the Republicans a lesson,” she added.

In a separate interview, Yellen stated that the United States might consider lowering tariffs against China in a mutually beneficial manner. She talks about Biden’s likely appointment to the Federal Reserve chair and how technology companies might support global tax rules.

American Treasury chief, John S. Treasury is visiting Ireland to discuss tax policy before heading to Scotland for U.N. conference on climate change.