In the ‘default’ beep… Biden Government “There is no debt limit negotiation”

Amidst warnings that the federal government of the United States could fall into deficit (default) on the 1st of next month, President Joe Biden reaffirmed his position that the issue of raising the debt ceiling is not subject to discussion. There is even a plan to raise the debt limit with the authority of the president using Article 14 of the Constitution, which was a ‘forbidden area’, being discussed behind the scenes. The tug of war between the White House and Republicans over the debt ceiling is expected to continue for some time.

In a briefing on the 2nd (local time), White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said, “The president will not discuss the issue of the debt ceiling” before a meeting of opposition leaders such as President Biden and the Speaker of the House Republican Kevin McCarthy on the 9th.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter sent to the leadership of Congress, including Speaker McCarthy, that the US government could fall into default on June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. Initially, the market and the government expected that US government funding would have ended by July. However, as taxes have been collected less than expected, the timing of the fiscal depletion has come forward. Because of this, the government has to pay more debt, and the government’s debt ceiling can only be raised with parliamentary approval. The current maximum debt of the US government is $31.4 trillion (about 4 trillion 2107 trillion won).

President Biden and the White House have demanded that the Republican Party, which took the lead in the House, raise the debt ceiling without preconditions. Republicans are demanding massive cuts in government spending in exchange for higher debt ceilings. Last week Republicans in the House of Representatives single-handedly passed a bill that would increase the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for cutting government spending by $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years.

The New York Times reported that the Biden administration’s economic and legal advisers were interested in Article 14 of the Amendment, which recently stated that “all debts of the federal government must be honored.” According to this, some legal scholars argue that the premise of the federal government itself is against the Constitution. The argument is that if Congress cannot prevent such a situation, the president, who is the head of the executive branch, should step in and raise the debt ceiling with his authority to prevent default.

The Washington Post (WP) and other media outlets in the US reported that they are paying attention to see if the White House and Congress will reach a dramatic agreement. WP said that although the positions of the White House and the Republican Party are strong, an interpretable agreement can be reached in a way that is advantageous to all.