Tag Archives | Debt Limit

Charles Lane argues that the nation needs a new debt limit law to reduce the likelihood of brinkmanship. while GOP factionalism and extremism caused the present predicament, they are also symptoms of a wider breakdown in national consensus that must be addressed if we are to reassure the global economy about long-term U.S. creditworthiness. Reforming […]

For those interested in the history of the debt limit and votes to increase the limit over the past 35 years, there are two Congressional Research Service reports that provide useful background. The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases Votes on Measures to Adjust the Statutory Debt Limit, 1978 to Present Of note, the second […]

Ezra Klein interviewed Mark Patterson, who served as the Chief of Staff of the Department of the Treasury from 2009-2013.  Here’s the relevant tidbit: EK: If you’re this worried and the consequences are this bad, why not do something like declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional under the 14th amendment or minting the coin? MP: It’s […]

As Washington nears yet another debt ceiling crisis, it’s worth pondering why the U.S. has a debt limit in the first place.  It’s a good question.  While I am not wholly settled in my opinion on the matter, I think some commentators have been too quick to dismiss the debt limit as anachronistic (or worse). […]

Garrett Epps argues that if Congress refuses to increase the debt ceiling, the President will have little choice but to invoke Section 4 of the 14th Amendment and act unilaterally to pay the federal government’s fiscal obligations.  The White House, however, has a different view.  As in 2011, the Obama Administration has dismissed this option. […]

James Fallows writes: there is no precedent for serious threats not to honor federal debt — as opposed to symbolic anti-Administration protest votes, which both parties have cast over the years. Nor for demanding the reversal of major legislation as a condition for routine government operations. There’s never been a “serious threat” to refuse to […]

The NYT “Room for Debate” feature focuses on how the President should respond if Congress fails to increase the debt ceiling. Among the contributors is Harvard’s Laurence Tribe. After explaining why the President cannot unilaterally disregard the debt ceiling (expanding on arguments he made in 2011), Tribe considers the alternative: A second approach calls for […]

Paul Krugman and Larry Tribe may think minting a platinum coin to evade the debt ceiling is legal, but the Department of the Treasury thinks otherwise, according to this report from Ezra Klein. According to The Treasury Department will not mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin to get around the debt ceiling. If they did, the […]

TPM has an interesting post on the origins of the idea to use a commemorative platinum coin to evade the debt limit. UPDATE: Apparently there’s even more to the story.

The idea of creating a $1 trillion platinum coin to evade the debt ceiling may be unwise — even “idiotic” — but is it legal? Proponents of the idea point to the following language in the U.S. Code: The Secretary may mint and issue bullion and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, […]

During the last major debt limit standoff in 2011, pundits and professors debated whether the debt ceiling itself was constitutional. According to some, placing a limit on the issuance of debt to cover the federal government’s financial obligations would violate Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides “The validity of the public debt of […]

Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe has an op-ed in today’s NYT on the constitutional debate over the debt ceiling. He writes: Several law professors and senators, and even Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, have suggested that section 4 of the 14th Amendment, known as the public debt clause, might provide a silver bullet. This provision […]

The Honorable Michael McConnell responds to claims that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional and that Section 4 of the 14th Amendment authorizes the President to issue additional debt if necessary to meet existing debt obligations.  Here’s a taste: Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment does not create a back-door method for the Administration to borrow […]

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has picked up on suggestions that the debt limit violates Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, though stopped short of saying the Administration would refuse to abide by the ceiling to avoid default.  Meanwhile, much bandwidth is being spilled over the various constitutional arguments. Jack Balkin points to the drafting history […]

The Huffington Post reports that some Democrats are urging the White House to ignore the debt ceiling on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. The basis for this argument is Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, . . . shall […]