President Biden said on Sunday that he believed he had the authority to challenge the constitutionality of the nation’s borrowing limit but that he did not believe such a challenge could succeed in time to avoid a default on federal debt if lawmakers did not raise the limit soon.
“I think we have the authority,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference after the Group of 7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. “The question is could it be done and invoked in time.”
Mr. Biden added that after the current crisis is resolved, he hopes to “find a rationale and take it to the courts” to decide whether the debt limit violates a clause in the 14th Amendment stipulating that the United States must pay its debts. He also said that, while meeting with world leaders, he had not been able to assure them that America would not default on its debt — an event that economists say could set off a financial crisis that would sweep the globe.
“I can’t guarantee that they will not force a default by…
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