White House: Biden not planning to invoke 14th Amendment to prevent debt default

The White House said on Tuesday (May 23) that it is not considering any constitutional solution to the current debt impasse as currently, President Joe Biden is not planning to invoke the 14th Amendment to prevent a US debt default.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that invoking the 14th Amendment to the constitution "is not going to fix the current problem we have right now".

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However, some legal scholars and experts argue that the 14th Amendment would let the US Treasury ignore the debt limit.

The buzz around the 14th Amendment accelerated when Biden previously said that he was considering invoking it, but also noted that he was concerned about the economic consequences of any court challenges.

Jean-Pierre's remarks indicate that Biden has abandoned whatever plans he may have had to employ a constitutional instrument to fix the debt situation.

The US stands on the verge of default if the government does not agree to raise the borrowing limit from its current 31.4 trillion dollars in order to maintain paying the nation's debts.

Republicans say Biden must sign up for spending cuts in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling, ignoring repeated Democratic calls for a "clean" increase of the borrowing limit with no strings attached.

Both sides have so far failed to reach a common ground as Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have undertaken three rounds of face-to-face talks in an attempt to strike an agreement to raise the current borrowing ceiling so that the US can meet its existing expenditure commitments.

The deal, if at all it gets finalised, must pass both chambers of Congress and therefore hinges on bipartisan support. Republicans control the House 222-213, while Democrats hold the Senate 51-49.

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre also appeared to rule out a temporary debt ceiling extension to give Biden and Mccarthy's teams more time to talk, telling reporters that such a solution is "not on the table".

Notably, a failure to lift the debt ceiling would trigger a default that would shake financial markets.

McCarthy shows optimism

McCarthy on Tuesday expressed optimism for a deal despite another round of talks ended with no signs of progress as he told reporters "we're not there yet", but vowed, "We're going to work until we get it all done".

He said, "I mean it's difficult because you've got to be able to write the bill, then you've got 72 hours here, then you've got the Senate to act. I mean, this is why all the way back in February we wanted to have an agreement well in advance."

(With inputs from agencies)

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