Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed on Sunday that the Republican-controlled Congress wouldn’t let the federal government default on its debts despite a rapidly approaching debt ceiling.

McConnell said during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he would stick to his pledge in November that Republicans wouldn’t shut down the government or default on debt, according to a Fox News report.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said just two days before that the government is facing a March 15 deadline to borrow money to cover congressional spending and that the Treasury would need to resort to “extraordinary measures” for a short-term solution, according to the report.

Despite McConnell’s pledge after the midterm elections that resulted in the GOP expanding its lead in the House and taking back the Senate, Congress has already almost partially closed the government by nearly failing to fund the Department of Homeland Security over a dispute about tying funding for the DHS to Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

Lew said the Treasury would need to start using its packet of emergency measures to keep the federal government from exceeding the debt limit in a week’s time.

The government had been operating on a suspended debt limit, meaning it could borrow as much as it wanted, but on March 15 that suspension is lifted. The debt is currently $18.1 trillion.

If action isn’t taken, Lew said he would use one of the Treasury’s emergency measures on March 13. That measure would involve the ceasing of special-purpose of Treasury debt, which is meant to help state and local governments finance essential government projects.

McConnell pledged to work with President Obama on the issue, and that Congress would take care of it fully over a period of months. He added that he was “optimistic” about compromises with the president on the situation.