White House says it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling and there are no discussions underway about eliminating it.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Congress must act to increase the debt ceiling after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the country will likely hit the $31.4 trillion statutory debt limit on Jan. 19.

That will force Treasury to launch extraordinary cash management measures that can prevent default until early June.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese)