Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!
Article 1 of the Constitution gives only Congress the power "[t]o borrow Money on the credit of the United States," and the debt ceiling is what constitutes authorization for the Treasury to do so. The President has no authority to override the debt ceiling, or maybe a better way of putting it is that the Executive Branch has no authority or authorization to issue debt in excess of the debt ceiling. The "cleanest" way to get around the Congress on this one would be the platinum coin, and I'd argue that creating a constitutional crisis is the dirtiest way to do it. If the President won't do the former, he certainly won't do the latter.