A simple explanation of why the Fourteenth Amendment can (and perhaps should) be invoked if the GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling
Defaulting on the national debt is not an option. If Congress fails to act responsibly, the president must. There is no mention of a “debt ceiling” in our original Constitution or in any of its amendments; it is a creature of statute. Under the debt ceiling/limit law, the Treasury is restrained from paying for financial obligations and expenditures —already approved and appropriated — once the statutory debt limit is reached. This conflicts with Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides, in pertinent part, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned.” [emphasis added] If the public debt cannot be questioned it cannot be challenged and, therefore, must be paid. As Senate pro tempore Benjamin Wade, one of the drafters of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, explained, “[E]very man who has property in the public funds will feel safer when he sees that the national debt is withdrawn from the power of a Congress to repudiate it and placed under the guardianship of the Constitution than he would feel it if it were left at loose ends and subject to the varying majorities which may arise in Congress.” [emphasis added] Clearly, a failure to raise the debt limit would violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s mandate that our public indebtedness be paid. If this situation were to arise, Biden would be obligated to raise the debt limit himself, via Executive Order. The President of the United States has a sworn duty to uphold the laws of the United States, including the laws authorizing our country’s indebtedness and dependent on that authorization for them to remain in full force and effect. The president also has the sworn duty to uphold the Constitution, including, of course, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits Congress from repudiating the indebtedness authorized by those laws.
--If you care to listen, comment on an article in The Washington Post
This was the first time I saw the quote by Senate pro tempore Benjamin Wade. It is clear from that quote that the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to protect the country from the very thing that the Republicans are threatening.
Given that, it seems to me that Biden should invoke the Fourteenth Amendment if the GOP refuses to accept a reasonable compromise in the debt limit negotiations.
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