WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s deal with congressional Republicans staved off a federal default crisis for another two years — but also evaporated hopes for now of ending debt ceiling battles once and for all, legal experts and White House allies say.
In the midst of negotiations, Biden said he was tempted to pursue a test case in which federal courts might certify that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment gives the president unilateral authority to override the borrowing cap. Biden said constitutional scholars including Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University professor and occasional adviser, told him the unprecedented executive action could pass constitutional muster.
But by punting that effort until after congressional negotiations wrapped up, several scholars — including Tribe himself — say it’s now much harder for Biden to secure a ruling that would allow him to avert a future fight that threatens to rattle Washington and Wall Street.
