[ As negotiations with congressional Republicans over raising the
debt ceiling drag on, at least five U.S. senators are circulating a
letter that urges President Joe Biden to prepare to invoke the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.]
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PROGRESSIVE SENATORS TELL BIDEN: PREPARE TO INVOKE 14TH AMENDMENT TO
PREVENT DEFAULT  
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Jessica Corbett
May 17, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ As negotiations with congressional Republicans over raising the
debt ceiling drag on, at least five U.S. senators are circulating a
letter that urges President Joe Biden to prepare to invoke the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. _

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As negotiations with congressional Republicans over raising the debt
ceiling [[link removed]] drag on, at
least five U.S. senators are circulating a letter that urges President
Joe Biden to prepare to invoke the 14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, _The Washington Post_revealed
[[link removed]] Wednesday.

"Republicans have made it clear that they are prepared to hold our
entire economy hostage unless you accede to their demands to reduce
the deficit on the backs of working families. That is simply
unacceptable," states the letter obtained by the _Post_.

"We write to urgently request that you prepare to exercise your
authority under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution," the document
adds. "Using this authority would allow the United States to continue
to pay its bills on time, without delay, preventing a global economic
catastrophe."

The letter is endorsed by Democratic Sens. Tina Smith
(Minn.), Elizabeth Warren
[[link removed]] (Mass.), Ed
Markey [[link removed]] (Mass.), and Jeff
Merkley (Ore.), along with Sen. Bernie Sanders
[[link removed]] (I-Vt.). "Those
lawmakers met in the Capitol Tuesday to discuss their plans," the
newspaper noted, and more are expected to sign on before it is
released. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), for example, cited
[[link removed]] the
14th Amendment in a series of tweets Wednesday.

The 14th Amendment says in part that the validity of the public debt
"shall not be questioned," and various legal scholars and members of
Congress have recently made the case
[[link removed]] for
invoking that language as the U.S. increasingly faces the possibility
of a catastrophic
[[link removed]] default—with
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other experts projecting
[[link removed]] that
the government could run out of money as early as June 1.

The _Post_ pointed out that "the administration's concerns about
unilaterally invoking the 14th Amendment have been well-understood
internally for months," with aides anticipating a Republican legal
challenge as well as the risk of "a sharp increase in federal
borrowing costs, alongside elevated rates for other loans, which could
trigger the same financial market panic as a default would."

After meeting with congressional leaders at the White House last week,
Biden told
[[link removed]] reporters
that he has been "considering" the 14th Amendment but also signaled
that any related action would be "months down the road," rather than
to resolve the current fight with House Republicans, who are demanding
severe spending cuts targeting the working class in exchange for
lifting the debt limit.

Progressive lawmakers
[[link removed]] and
advocacy groups have warned against compromising with the House GOP.
Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of the watchdog Public Citizen
[[link removed]], stressed
[[link removed]] Wednesday
that "the consequences of failing to pay our bills would be
catastrophic for the American economy, erasing millions of jobs,
triggering recession, devastating retirement accounts, and more."

"We also must not strike a bad deal," she said. "The consequences of a
cap to federal spending that goes longer than the debt ceiling is
raised are disastrous. Caps are cuts. They slash funding dramatically,
weakening our ability to provide essential public services, make
needed investments in our communities, and prepare for and react to
emergencies—pandemics, climate change-induced disasters, etc.—as a
nation. Any cap included in the deal must not extend for longer than
the debt limit extension."

House Democrats on Wednesday officially launched
[[link removed]] a
longshot effort to force a vote on a clean debt limit hike without the
support of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), but they would have to
convince all members of their own caucus plus five Republicans to back
the move. Given the stakes and limited options to avert a default,
support is growing for the 14th Amendment path.

"We are in a situation where these extreme Republicans in the House
are demanding completely untenable policies in exchange for not
driving the country's economy off a cliff," Smith told the _Post_. "I
think it's important we understand there is another option."

"I deeply admire the work of the Biden administration and their
negotiators to try and find some common ground," she added. "But
looking at it from my perspective, the extremists from the House
better take note that this kind of hostage-taking cannot work."

In response to the reporting, Dean Baker, senior economist at the
Center for Economic & Policy Research, tweeted
[[link removed]] that it
is "good to see I'm not the only one pushing for the 14th Amendment,"
referencing his Tuesday blog post
[[link removed]] on the topic.

As Baker wrote:

So, is Biden also thinking of invoking the 14th Amendment and saying
that the government is not constrained by Republican efforts to
default on the debt? I can't say. I also can't say what the Republican
Supreme Court will do.

But many of us have underestimated Biden before. He managed to get an
amazing amount of important legislation through a 50-50 Senate, and
with only a narrow Democratic majority in the House. It doesn't seem
likely that he would walk into negotiations with a Republican speaker
indebted to the party's biggest loons without a backup plan.

I guess we will know the answer on this one soon enough.

Biden on Tuesday held
[[link removed]] another
White House meeting about the debt limit with top Democrats and
Republicans in Congress. Ahead of his departure for the Group of Seven
(G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, the president said
[[link removed]] Wednesday
that "the nation has never defaulted on its debt, and it never will."

"And we're going to continue these discussions with congressional
leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement. And I'll have
more to say about that on Sunday," he explained. "As it stands now,
the intention is to go to the G7, be back here on Sunday, hold a press
conference."

The fruitlessness of the negotiations so far has led some to go beyond
the senators' letter, which urges Biden to merely prepare to use the
14th Amendment. Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork
Collaborative
[[link removed]], argued
[[link removed]] Wednesday
that he shouldn't wait any longer to act.

"It's time for President Biden to step away from this slow-moving
train wreck and use the authority he has under the 14th Amendment to
avert default," Owens declared.

"McCarthy's demands will only grow as the default deadline
approaches," she said. "Swallowing additional spending cuts is
tactically foolish and will only exacerbate the extraordinary harms
McCarthy's policies will inflict on families and our economy."

_[JESSICA CORBETT is a senior editor and staff writer for Common
Dreams.]_

_Licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to
republish and share widely._

* 14th amendment
[[link removed]]
* debt crisis
[[link removed]]
* Debt Ceiling
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* National debt
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* Bernie Sanders
[[link removed]]
* Elizabeth Warren
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* Ed Markey
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* Jeff Merkley
[[link removed]]
* Sheldon Whitehouse
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* Tina Smith
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* Joe Biden
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* Public Citizen
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* Groundwork Collaborative
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* U.S. Constitution
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* Congress
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