June 1st is the deadline for Congress and the president to strike a deal on the debt ceiling. With a week to go, many are saying President Biden can do an end-run on House Republicans and invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own… or can he? Speaking on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program, ABC News contributor Sarah Isgur says the 14th Amendment does not allow the president such control over America’s purse strings.
“The 14th Amendment says, ‘The debts of the United States shall not be questioned’,” Isgur told Berman and Riedel. ‘Article One of the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise revenue, taxes, spend money, appropriations, and borrow on the credit of the United States, that’s take on debt. Even if the 14th Amendment, you think, means something totally different than what I’m saying, where is it giving the president power to usurp any of those powers of Congress, the only three things that can fix the debt ceiling, by the way?”
Isgur says the crisis never had to happen in the first place; Democrats in Congress could have raised the ceiling months ago. “Democrats controlled the House and Senate even as of December. They could have done the debt ceiling thing on their own; they didn’t. Then the Biden Administration says they’re not going to negotiate… and this crisis is looming; therefore, what if we just don’t work with Congress at all and instead find this magic wand where the president can fix all our problems on his own.”
Isgur also weighed in on the prospects of Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott declaring their intentions in the hunt for the GOP presidential candidacy in 2024. “Ron DeSantis’ theory of this race is that he’s going to go all-in on Iowa and New Hampshire. I think what’s left to find out about the Ron DeSantis campaign is what their strategy is going to be vis-à-vis Donald Trump…Tim Scott is a very different situation. Tim Scott is one of the most popular people in the Republican party; that’s very different, though, than people wanting to vote for him for President, of course.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images