WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2023) US President Joe Biden said during a press conference that he is considering the use of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution to bypass the need to negotiate a debt ceiling increase with Congress, following a meeting between the president and congressional leadership on the matter.
"I have been considering the Fourteenth Amendment," Biden said on Tuesday.
However, the matter would have to be litigated in court, Biden added.
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel advised former US President Barack Obama on the possible use of the Fourteenth Amendment to circumvent negotiations with Congress, although their legal opinion never became public.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that the validity of the United States' public debt "shall not be questioned," leaving room for interpretation as to whether or not it is the purview of the executive branch to unilaterally raise the borrowing limit.
The Obama administration ultimately never pursued the Fourteenth Amendment route, with former White House spokesperson Jay Carney saying in 2012 that the administration determined the president lacks such authority.
