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July 19, 2011
Bill Clinton advocates the constitutional option
Former President Bill Clinton said Monday he wouldn't hesitate to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval--a fraught political course that President Obama has been reluctant to follow as he seeks to broker a deal on spending with Republican leaders.Clinton told The National Memo he would invoke the constitutional option "without hesitation, and force the courts to stop [him]" if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline when the U.S. Treasury says the government will begin to default on its debts.
That's much stronger language than anything we've heard from the sitting president during the grinding debate over whether and how the debt ceiling can be raised. Some legal thinkers--including, quite clearly, Clinton himself--take the view that the Constitution grants the president the authority to raise the limit by executive order without Congress's approval. The Fourteenth Amendment states: "the validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned."
"I think the Constitution is clear," Clinton said.
Posted by Mike at July 19, 2011 01:19 PM
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