WASHINGTON (AP) – The Treasury Department says it has started taking “extraordinary measures” as the government has brushed up against its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion. The Department sent a letter to congressional leaders Thursday to that effect. Frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans are raising alarms about whether the U.S. can sidestep a potential economic crisis. Markets so far remain calm, as the government can temporarily rely on accounting tweaks to stay open. That means any threats to the economy are several months away. But this particular moment seems more fraught than past brushes with the debt limit.