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https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-is-the-14th-amendment-and-can-biden-use-it-to-fix-the-debt-ceiling-727499cc

What Is the 14th Amendment, and Can Biden Use It to Fix the Debt Ceiling?

Scholars differ on whether the Constitution lets the president pay debts, whatever Congress says

May 22, 2023 4:53 pm ET

At the G-7 summit in Japan, President Biden said it was time for House Republicans to move from their ‘extreme positions’ over raising the debt limit, and that default was ‘not an option.’ Photo: POOL/Zuma Press

The debt-ceiling standoff has renewed debate over the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Some lawyers argue it lets President Biden unilaterally pay the nation’s debts without heeding Republicans’ demands; others say that idea fundamentally misreads the Constitution. Here’s an overview of the so-called 14th-Amendment strategy and why it looms large in negotiations between the White House and House Republicans.

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