McCarthy Criticizes Biden’s Possible Use of 14th Amendment to Override Debt Limit

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday criticized President Joe Biden’s veiled threat to invoke the 14th Amendment as a way to override the debt ceiling and avert a possible default, with the two politicians fresh off a meeting with no breakthrough on the debt limit standoff.

Biden on Tuesday confirmed that he’s looking at the possibility of using the 14th Amendment as a last-ditch option to work around the $31.4 trillion debt limit in the event that negotiations on lifting the borrowing cap fall through and the country faces the prospect of defaulting on its debt obligations.

“I have been considering the 14th Amendment, and the man I have enormous respect for, Larry Tribe … thinks that it would be legitimate,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling.

“But the problem is it would have to be litigated,” Biden continued. “And in the meantime, without an extension, it would still end up in the same place.”