Why Biden is wary of using the 14th Amendment to address the debt limit crisis
If the fight with Congress is such a dire threat, why doesn't President Joe Biden just raise the borrowing ceiling himself?
One potential option Biden and his advisers have been looking at: Would he have the power to go around lawmakers by relying on the Constitution's 14th Amendment in a last-ditch move to avert default? It's theoretically possible, but he's all but ruled it out for now.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We have not come up with a unilateral action that could succeed in a matter of two weeks or three weeks,바카라 게임 웹사이트 during a news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sunday as he concluded the Group of Seven summit. 바카라 게임 웹사이트That's the issue.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Biden, though, over the weekend signaled the 14th Amendment option isn't completely off the table for the future.
바카라 게임 웹사이트It바카라 게임 웹사이트s up to lawmakers,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Biden said in Hiroshima. 바카라 게임 웹사이트But my hope and intention is: When we resolve this problem, I바카라 게임 웹사이트d find a rationale to take it to the courts to see whether or not the 14th Amendment is, in fact, something that would be able to stop it.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Here's more on what the 14th Amendment is and why people are calling on Biden to use it:
What does the 14th Amendment say?
The amendment, ratified in the aftermath of the Civil War, is better known for its provisions addressing citizenship and equal protection under the law. It has been used by the Supreme Court to mandate racial integration in schools in Brown v. Board of Education and same-sex marriage recognition in Obergefell v. Hodges.
It also includes this clause, which some legal scholars see as relevant to today's showdown: 바카라 게임 웹사이트The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Default, they argue, is therefore unconstitutional and Biden would have a duty to effectively nullify the debt limit if Congress won't raise it, so that the validity of the country's debt isn't questioned.
Why is it being talked about now?
Congress establishes the limit on borrowing, and it's up to Congress to adjust it. But the president faces pressure to act on his own because some leading Republicans are seeing default, a likely result before long, as an acceptable bargaining tool. That has stoked concerns within the White House that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy might be unable to deliver votes for an agreement to lift the debt limit or could be ousted from his position for even attempting to do so.
Those concerns were underscored Wednesday night during a CNN town hall with the Republican frontrunner in 2024. 바카라 게임 웹사이트If they don바카라 게임 웹사이트t give you massive cuts, you바카라 게임 웹사이트re going to have to do a default,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump said.
The former president said he believes Democrats will 바카라 게임 웹사이트absolutely cave바카라 게임 웹사이트 and a default will be avoided. But he said a default is preferable to allowing the federal government to keep spending money like 바카라 게임 웹사이트drunken sailors.바카라 게임 웹사이트
What does Biden say?
Biden has said his administration is studying the idea of invoking the 14th Amendment. He said he's skeptical that it is a viable option but the 바카라 게임 웹사이트one thing I바카라 게임 웹사이트m ruling out is default.바카라 게임 웹사이트
"The problem is it would have to be litigated," he said of the constitutional reasoning on Tuesday. If the matter got tied up in court, the government could default anyway.
If and when the current impasse is resolved, he says, he is thinking about looking into whether the 14th Amendment route could be a solution to avert similar showdowns in the future.
바카라 게임 웹사이트When we get by this, I바카라 게임 웹사이트m thinking about taking a look at -- months down the road -- to see whether -- what the court would say about whether or not it does work,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Biden says.
His Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has been more blunt, saying it could provoke a 바카라 게임 웹사이트constitutional crisis.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Has this been studied before?
Yes. During past debt limit showdowns, including talks in 2011 between then-President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans, White House and Department of Justice lawyers also flirted with using the 14th Amendment as an emergency solution. They were deeply skeptical that it was a viable alternative to Congress raising the debt limit, and it was never invoked.