Gov’t workers sue Biden, Yellen to lift debt ceiling.

Union Sues Biden and Yellen Over Debt Ceiling

The National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), representing 75,000 government workers, has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, demanding that the administration ignore the debt ceiling on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. The lawsuit argues that the debt limit law adopted over a century ago goes against the Constitution’s separation of powers by forcing the president to cut spending already approved by Congress to prevent a default.

Constitutional Violation

The 14th Amendment states that the “validity” of the United States’ public debt “shall not be questioned,” which has been interpreted to mean that the president must find money to pay national debts already incurred. The lawsuit argues that the debt limit law undermines the presidential duty to fulfill the country’s debt obligations as stipulated in the 14th Amendment, thereby violating the Constitution.

The union wants the debt limit law to be temporarily frozen while the case proceeds through the courts, which would allow the Treasury to issue new government securities and use the money to settle existing debts.

X-Date Looms

The debt cap currently stands at $31.4 trillion, and the Treasury has been resorting to “extraordinary measures” to keep settling obligations and avoid a default. However, the room to continue with these special actions is running out, and Yellen has warned that the so-called X-date, when the government can no longer borrow and must rely on incoming revenue to settle its obligations, could come as early as June 1 unless Congress agrees to lift the debt ceiling.

Constitutional Spending Power

The lawsuit argues that the Constitution grants spending power to Congress, and so Biden and Yellen don’t have the authority to decide which payments to make once the scope for continuing to use the extraordinary accounting maneuvers runs out. The 75,000 or so employees represented by the union stand to lose pay or be laid off if the debt ceiling is not raised and the Treasury prioritizes debt payments from incoming tax revenue.

Invoking the 14th Amendment

The White House has looked at the possibility of invoking the 14th Amendment—basically using executive power to declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional—as a last-ditch measure to prevent a default in case debt ceiling negotiations between Democrats and Republicans fail to break the current impasse. Biden has agreed to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to discuss possible ways out of the deadlock.

Biden and the Democrats have insisted on legislation with no preconditions to raise the debt ceiling, while McCarthy and the Republicans have demanded spending cuts in exchange for their support to lift the borrowing cap. House Republicans have put forward a proposal that pairs raising the debt cap by $1.5 trillion with $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over a decade.

The situation is becoming increasingly urgent, and the outcome remains uncertain. The Epoch Times has reached out to the Treasury Department and the White House for comment.