The Debt Limit and the Fourteenth Amendment

[a_new_machine]

So, with the shenanigans now going on in the budget talks, the fear of a looming debt limit crisis is growing. Those fears are quite real, and if no deal is reached, a default could have vast and serious consequences.

As a response, many (including Congressmen involved in the debt ceiling fight) have suggested that there is a constitutional bar on

Comments

[telemann]

Richard Stengel's article for Time Magazine's cover feature on the United States Constitution dealt with this very question:

II. The Debt Ceiling
'The Congress shall have power ... To borrow money on the credit of the United States.'
Article I, Section 8

'The validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned.'14th Amendment, Section 4

[a_new_machine]

That article is seriously terrible ConLaw scholarship. "The government also compels us to buy car insurance (if we want to legally drive our car), which is a product from a private company." Seriously? The man is talking about constitutional law, but can't see the difference between state-level regulation of intrastate commerce, and federal-level regulation of intrastate commerce? "George Washington once signed a bill asking Americans to buy a musket and ammunition." Asked, not required.

Seriously, it reads as a propaganda piece.

[yahvah]

Have I not seen anyone say anything about the absurdity of raising the debt ceiling to service older debt while simultaneously hinging its absolute necessity on a declaration denying naysayers?

[nevermind6794]

Does the Treasury have the authority to not spend money already budgeted by Congress? I don't see why it would.

[a_new_machine]

There was an opinion regarding the line-item veto (holding it unconstitutional) that, IIRC, had a majority of justices endorsing a "decline to spend" power on the executive's part. I'm not 100% certain about the contours of that power, though, or the ways in which it can and cannot be permissibly used.