President Biden is threatening to use an unprecedented and constitutionally questionable maneuver to circumvent Republicans on the debt limit less than two weeks before the U.S. is projected to default and be unable to pay its bills.
Mr. Biden told reporters at a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Japan that his administration was exploring whether it could invoke the 14th Amendment as debt limit negotiations with House Republicans sour.
The president agreed to host House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Monday.
“I’m looking at the 14th Amendment as to whether or not we have the authority. I think we have the authority,” Mr. Biden said. “The question is: Could it be done and invoked in time that it would not be appealed and as a consequence past the date in question and still default on the debt?”
The 14th Amendment declares that the validity of the national debt “shall not be questioned.” Passed after the Civil War, the amendment was designed to prohibit Southern states from trying to repudiate debts incurred for “suppressing insurrection or rebellion” while declaring that the federal government was not responsible for debts incurred by the Confederacy.
Some legal scholars say the 14th Amendment is broader and gives the president authority to scrap the debt limit and keep paying the nation’s bills without a ceiling imposed by Congress.
Such a maneuver has never been tested and would likely result in a protracted legal battle. Even Mr. Biden’s chosen Treasury secretary acknowledged during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the move was legally dubious.
“It doesn’t seem like something that could be appropriately used in these circumstances, given the legal uncertainty around it and given the tight time frame we’re on,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. “My devout hope is that Congress will raise the debt ceiling and we will pay all of our bills.
Given the uncertainty, Mr. Biden said he preferred to make a deal with House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling.
“All four congressional leaders agree with me that default is not an option,” said Mr. Biden. “I expect each of these leaders to live up to that commitment.”
Mr. Biden’s flirtation with the 14th Amendment is seen as a tactic to force Mr. McCarthy to compromise on raising the debt limit and cutting spending.
It also underscores congressional Democrats’ immense pressure on Mr. Biden not to give away too much in negotiations.
SEE ALSO: House GOP budget chair says ‘We’ve done our job,’ as debt ceiling talks stall
The nearly 50-member Congressional Black Caucus is urging Mr. Biden to rebuff Republican demands on expanding work requirements for social welfare programs, including Medicaid, food stamps and cash payments.
“The Congressional Black Caucus has no intention of allowing families to go hungry to appease Republicans,” said Rep. Steven Horsford, Nevada Democrat. “It’s a recipe for expanding racial and gender disparities, which seems to be their modus operandi.”
Backing up the CBC’s opposition to new work requirements is the more than-90 member Congressional Progressive Caucus. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington Democrat and chairwoman of the liberal caucus, has repeatedly stressed that imposing work requirements is a “non-starter.”
Several Democratic lawmakers say invoking the 14th Amendment is preferable to gutting climate change regulations or kicking people off welfare assistance.
“It is unacceptable to have the president in a position where Kevin McCarthy says you either savage programs for ordinary Americans and flood the country with fossil fuels or I’m going to run the economy off the cliff,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Democrat. “The president has a mechanism to push back. He has the 14th Amendment.”
The 14th Amendment is under discussion as negotiations between Mr. McCarthy’s staff and the White House are at a standstill.
Mr. McCarthy said the stalemate is partly a result of the White House’s unwillingness to cut spending immediately. Republicans are pushing for at least $130 billion in the upcoming budget. The House speaker said at least half of that could come from rescinding unspent pandemic aid.
“Unfortunately, the White House moved backward,” said Mr. McCarthy, California Republican. “They actually want to spend more money than we spent this year. We can’t do that. We all know how big this deficit is.”
The White House proposes keeping domestic and defense spending flat for the upcoming fiscal year. Staffers say that would still amount to a spending cut because of inflation.
House Republicans want more spending for defense, border security and veterans benefits. Republican lawmakers say spending cuts should be focused on welfare programs and “woke bureaucracy.”
Like the president, Mr. McCarthy faces pressure from his right flank to not compromise.
On Thursday, the more than 40-member House Freedom Caucus called for a suspension of negotiations. Rather than negotiate, the conservative group said, Mr. McCarthy should push for the wholesale adoption of the debt limit legislation that House Republicans passed last month.
“This legislation is the official position of the House Freedom Caucus and, by its passage with 217 votes, the entire House Republican Conference,” the group said in a statement. “There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation.”
The legislation would cut spending by $4.8 trillion while capping spending growth at 1% over the next decade. It would also cancel Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, rescind green energy tax credits, and expand work requirements on food stamps, Medicaid, and cash payments.
The White House, meanwhile, is pushing for a two-year deal on spending caps. Mr. Biden also opposes scrapping green energy tax credits and has ruled out accepting work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps.
Mr. Biden is open to expanding work requirements on direct cash payments for needy families.
House Republicans say that does not go far enough. They have offered to cap federal spending growth for six years, rather than 10, in exchange for slashing domestic spending.
Part of the problem for House Republicans is that Mr. Biden is not offering enough spending cuts. Instead, Mr. Biden proposed hiking taxes in his latest offer to House Republicans.
“Now he’s just making more excuses not to negotiate a responsible debt ceiling deal that will raise the debt ceiling, pay our bills, protect the good faith and credit of the United States, but also deal with the spending problem that’s driving the inflation crisis and some of the economic woes that we’re experiencing,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, Texas Republican, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Although Mr. Biden has opened the door to expanding work requirements for recipients of direct cash payments through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the savings would be minuscule. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that expanded work requirements on TANF recipients would save only $6 million through 2033.
Meanwhile, scrapping Mr. Biden’s green energy tax credits and canceling his student loan forgiveness program would save more than $800 billion over the same period. Capping the growth in federal spending for a decade would save more than $3 trillion.
No talks have been scheduled until Mr. Biden returns from Japan, but the president did speak to Mr. McCarthy via phone on Sunday. The speaker said the call was productive and that he and the president would meet in person at the White House on Monday.
“It goes in stages,” Mr. Biden said. “I’ve been in these negotiations before.”
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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