Some Democrats are urging him to try to use that amendment, which has not been resorted to before, to bypass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and raise the borrowing limit.
What is the Fourteenth Amendment?
The fourth paragraph of the Fourteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States shall not be questioned.”
Historians say the goal is to ensure that the federal government does not repudiate its debts, as some former Confederate states did.
But the article has not been dealt with to a large extent by the courts, and legal experts differ on what it takes from Congress and the presidency to implement it.
Some, like Cornell University law professor Michael Dorff, say the “least unconstitutional” option is for Biden to act alone to protect the integrity of the national debt.
“This means borrowing money,” he added.
Any action by Biden will almost certainly lead to a lawsuit.
Who can go to court because of the debt ceiling?
It is not clear who can file a lawsuit. It can be difficult for a plaintiff to prove that they were harmed by the procedure – a concept known as “legal standing”.
The US Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that individual lawmakers do not have the legal standing to bring such lawsuits, but Congress would likely vote to say it had suffered collective damages.
The Supreme Court could also choose to hear the case in order to resolve the issue quickly, as happened with Biden’s move to write off $430 billion in student debt.
The Supreme Court has decided an issue related to the public debt clause only once, during a 1935 challenge to Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt’s decision to withdraw the United States from the “gold standard”. The court ruled that the plaintiff, who is a bondholder, did not have the legal standing to bring suit.
What is the position of the White House on the Fourteenth Amendment?
When the issue came to the fore in Washington in 2011 and 2013, prominent Democrats like former President Bill Clinton urged former President Barack Obama to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment. But White House aides said they did not believe they had the legal authority to do so.
Biden said Sunday that he believes he has this authority, but there is not enough time to implement this strategy until it bears fruit before June 1. That is when the Treasury warned that the government might not be able to pay all its bills.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made similar comments on Sunday.
What would the market’s reaction be if Biden resorted to the Fourteenth Amendment?
Administration officials and economists said that a default resulting from exceeding the debt ceiling would upset the global financial system and lead the United States to slide into recession.
This immediate disaster could be averted if Biden invoked the Fourteenth Amendment.
However, investors may panic about what is happening and demand higher interest rates to ward off increased risks in the event of legal problems.
#Biden #resort #Fourteenth #Amendment #Constitution #raise #debt #ceiling