P.M. BRIEFING : U.S. Again Delays Note Auction

WASHINGTON —  The Treasury Department today postponed a $12-billion auction of two-year notes because of congressional inaction on legislation to raise the debt limit. It was the third postponement in less than a week.

The debt limit dropped from $3.195 trillion to $3.12 trillion last Saturday, and a bill to raise the ceiling is caught up in negotiations between the Bush Administration and Congress over a budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Since the lower ceiling already had been reached, the Treasury last Thursday postponed an auction of $10.75 billion in 52-week bills. And on Monday, it put off an $18.8-billion auction of three-month and six-month bills.