US President Joe Biden is considering using the 14th Amendment to prevent the US from defaulting on its debt next month, according to a report by The Hill. The amendment’s fourth section states that the “validity of the public debt of the United States… shall not be questioned”. The Biden administration is reportedly exploring the use of this clause to avoid default. However, on Friday, the President told MSNBC that he had not yet made a decision.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that invoking the clause could lead to a “constitutional crisis”. She argues that the President has the authority to continue borrowing money to pay the country’s debts, even if the debt ceiling has been reached, because it is necessary to preserve the validity of the public debt. This interpretation is based on the idea that the President has a constitutional obligation to protect the creditworthiness of the United States, but it has not been tested in court and is still debated among legal scholars.
Yellen has urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling, warning that failure to do so could lead to an “economic and financial catastrophe”. The White House has told House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that it wants a “clean” debt limit increase. Republicans argue that decisions related to spending and money must come through Congress, and have also expressed concerns about invoking the 14th Amendment.
