The Debt Ceiling Crisis Looms Closer

Headline: “Defaulting on the national debt is much closer than anyone realizes.”

If Republicans controlling the House of Representatives carry through with their threat to freeze the debt ceiling, Biden will have to breach it in order to pay debts of the United States previously authorized by Congress and the President. He would cite as his authority for doing so the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… will not be questioned.” Whether the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Biden — thereby saving the United States from a catastrophic economic meltdown and international humiliation carrying with it a sharply increased national security risk — is anybody’s guess.