A new agreement between President Biden and House Republicans aims to raise the debt limit and prevent a catastrophic default on national debt. The brinkmanship employed by both sides has raised concerns about using the debt ceiling as a political tool, and whether this issue could be resolved by abolishing the debt ceiling or invoking the 14th Amendment to render the statutory limit unconstitutional. The Biden administration has been studying whether it could use the 14th Amendment to circumvent Congress, while some legal scholars say that the amendment overrides the statutory borrowing limit. The Biden administration won’t challenge the constitutionality of the debt limit this time around, but may do so to avoid another debt limit fight. The agreement suspends the borrowing cap only until January 2025, leaving the possibility of further conflicts in the future.
