Why the 14th Amendment should be kept out of a debt ceiling crisis

ith the news that the Treasury Department may exhaust its extraordinary measures as soon as the beginning of June, this year’s debt ceiling confrontation is rapidly coming to a boil without a deal in sight. House Republicans and President Biden’s White House are making incommensurable demands, preparing for combat, and shifting blame instead of finding a way out of the impasse.

That would effectively render the statutory debt limit a nullity—and it would represent a major constitutional provocation by the president. It would be a horrible mistake. First, it is simply bad constitutional law. When the amendments says “the validity of the public debt … shall not be questioned,” it is barring repudiation of debt, not authorizing the means of repaying debt. Failing to make timely payments on the government’s obligations would be bad, but it would in no way imply any sort of repudiation. There is no real solution here.

That may sound self-limiting but would in fact create lots of room for mischief. Most federal government spending does not come in the form of dollar-specified discretionary appropriations. Instead, permanent appropriations , sensitive to executive branch manipulation, constitute the lion’s share of our spending. Wiping out the debt ceiling in a way that rules out congressional interference with executive debt-issuance would give the president free rein.

Loans Loans Latest News, Loans Loans Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Yellen says using 14th Amendment to scrap debt limit would cause a 'constitutional crisis'Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeatedly declined to rule out the possibility of declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional if Congress fails to resolve its standoff, but said doing so would be a 'not-good' option.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen dodges question on invoking 14th Amendment to avoid defaultTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen dodged questions Sunday about whether the Biden administration is considering invoking the 14th Amendment to avoid default if Congress fails to lift the debt ceiling.
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »

Using 14th Amendment to solve debt ceiling would risk 'constitutional crisis,' Yellen saysTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells ThisWeekABC that invoking the 14th Amendment to get around the debt ceiling and continue borrowing money to pay the nation's bills would risk a 'constitutional crisis.'
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Could Biden Invoke 14th Amendment in Debt Ceiling Dilemma?Could Biden Invoke 14th Amendment in Debt Ceiling Dilemma? | Compare reporting by reason ReutersPolitics ABC
Source: AllSidesNow - 🏆 572. / 51 Read more »