There is no reason the US needs to default, we just need to get creative in finding the funds

I think we should just have a national campaign where IRS agents go door-to-door and overturn everyone's couch cushions. Who knows how much money we could find? Maybe you'll find $10, maybe you'll find $1.05, maybe nothing, but the times you find a $100 bill should offset that.
Recent studies show that Americans have a couch for about six years and they usually contain at least $1.55 in change at any given time. That is good odds. How many couches are in the US right now? Jaime, pull that up. There's 123.6 million housholds in the US. That means we're missing out on at least a 1.9 million dollar budget shortfall on American couches.
Then we can expand this to include money under car seats, money in center consoles, money on unspent gift cards. The IRS could include gift card searches in thier searches and if they find a gift card close to expiration you can deduct it as a tax credit and they can use it to pay government workers, that way they get meals and they don't get as hurt by inflation at the grocer.
Think of all the gas stations where you don't pick up the penny on the ground when you walk by. There are at least 145,000 gas stations in the US, if each one has an uncollected penny that's at least $1450! That's not including the take-a-penny-leave-a-penny dishes. I don't know about you guys, but when I go into a gas station I take the pennies and no one has ever stopped me. I have made at least $2 so far doing this. If every IRS agent does that it world 10x the uncollected-gas-station-penny initiative.
Don't even get me started on water fountains. Does anyone else have any good ideas where we can find missing revenue? $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ $SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.US)$ $Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ.US)$ $AMC Entertainment (AMC.US)$ $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ $Micron Technology (MU.US)$