An Obama administration official Wednesday warned of the need to raise the legal limit on U.S. borrowing by Aug. 2 and said that deadline was unlikely to change.

Though some Republicans have suggested that the Treasury might be able to pay its bills after Aug. 2 through other means, the official told reporters at a briefing that there was no alternative to raising the debt ceiling.

Concerning the option of selling U.S. holdings of gold, the official said that would not be good for markets or American taxpayers.