Biden flirts with 14th Amendment as pressure mounts from right and left in debt talks
President Biden is threatening to utilize an unprecedented and constitutionally questionable maneuver to circumvent Republicans on the debt limit with less than two weeks until the U.S. is likely to default and be unable to pay its bill.
Mr. Biden told reporters at a G7 meeting in Japan his administration was exploring whether it could invoke the 14th Amendment as debt limit negotiations with House Republicans sour.
The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden agreed to host House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Monday for another round of talks.
“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 simultaneously declaring the federal government was not responsible for debts incurred by the Confederacy.
Some legal scholars say the 14th Amendment is broader in scope and gives the president authority to scrap the debt limit altogether and keep paying the nation’s bills without Congress setting a debt ceiling.
Such a maneuver has never been tested and would likely result in a protracted legal battle. Even Mr. Biden’s Treasury secretary admitted the move was legally dubious during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“It doesn’t seem like something that could be appropriately used in these circumstances, given the legal uncertainty around it and given the tight timeframe 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 using the 14th Amendment is seen as a tactic to force Mr. McCarthy to compromise in negotiations over raising the debt limit and cutting spending.
But it also underscores the immense pressure Mr. Biden is facing from fellow Democrats to not give away too much in the same talks.
SEE ALSO: House GOP budget chair says ‘We’ve done our job,’ as debt ceiling talks crumble
The nearly 50-member Congressional Black Caucus is already urging Mr. Biden to rebuff GOP 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, the progressive caucus’s chairwoman, has repeatedly stressed that work requirements are a “nonstarter.”
Several Democratic lawmakers say invoking the 14th Amendment is preferable to gutting climate change regulations or kicking individuals 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.”
Talk of using the 14th Amendment comes as negotiations between Mr. McCarthy’s staff and the White House are at a standstill.
Mr. McCarthy said the stalemate is due in part to the White House’s unwillingness to cut spending immediately. Republicans are pushing for at least $130 billion in the upcoming budget, of which at least half Mr. McCarthy said could come from rescinding unspent coronavirus funds.
“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 is proposing to keep domestic and defense spending flat for the upcoming fiscal year. They argue that would still amount to a spending cut because of inflation.
House Republicans instead want to boost spending for defense, border security, and veterans benefits. GOP lawmakers say spending cuts should be focused on welfare programs and “woke bureaucracy.”
Similar to the president, Mr. McCarthy is facing pressure from his right flank to not compromise at the negotiating table.
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 passed by House Republicans 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 is also opposed to scrapping green energy tax credits and has ruled out accepting work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps.
Mr. Biden is open though to expanding work requirements on direct cash payments for needy families.
House Republicans say that does not go far enough. They’ve offered to cap the growth of federal spending 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. In fact, Mr. Biden has 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 said on ABC’s “This Week.”
While Mr. Biden has opened the door to expanding work requirements for recipients of direct cash payments through 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. Similarly, if the growth in federal spending is capped for a decade then more than $3 trillion would be saved.
At the moment, no talks are scheduled until Mr. Biden returns from Japan, but the president did speak to Mr. McCarthy via phone on Sunday.
“It goes in stages,” Mr. Biden said. “I’ve been in these negotiations before.”
