Speaking to CBS News, President Obama said he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will be mailed out if an agreement fails.

Scott Pelley: “Can you tell the folks at home that, no matter what happens, the Social Security checks are going to go out on August the 3rd? There are about $20 billion worth of Social Security checks that have to go out the day after the government is supposedly going to go into default?”

President Obama: “Well, this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans’ checks, these are folks on disability, and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out each month.”

Pelley: “Can you guarantee, as president, those checks will go out on August the 3rd?”

Obama: “I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.”