Nat'l Journal: Republicans Close to Violating the Constitution

[MFrohike]

52. You're confused

The debt ceiling is not the budget. The budget is the money mandated to be spent by Congress. The debt ceiling is an aggregate limit that exists independent of the budget. The US sells bonds because federal law requires it and because it's tradition. It's not to raise revenue.

My question was whether this was really a constitutional problem since the president would only be spending funds already authorized by Congress. The fact that Congress has chosen to appropriate a certain amount AND set a limit on borrowings should not implicate separation of powers because there's no overstep by the executive if he ignores the debt ceiling. He's forced to choose between Congress' own inability to create a coherent financial architecture. While this would be an illegal act, it's probably one the executive would win in court because Congress has created a situation with competing priorities that could prove impossible to reconcile if Congress chooses not to act. It would be absurd to penalize the president for Congress' incompetence. It's also absurd for the president to argue, from a legal point of view, that he had no options outside of Congressional action.