2023-05-08 16:22:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — A public employees union sued Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and President Joe Biden on Monday to try to stop them from complying with the law limiting government debt, calling it unconstitutional.
The demand arises a few weeks before the deadline to lift the country’s debt ceiling. Yellen has warned that there might be catastrophic consequences if Congress does not pass the cap and the government defaults.
The lawsuit, filed by the National Association of Government Employees, says that if Yellen abides by the debt ceiling once it becomes mandatory, possibly next month, she will have to decide what obligations to pay once the government’s ability to borrow money is limited. borrowed.
Some analysts have argued that in such a case, the government might give priority to interest payments on Treasury bonds. This would ensure that the United States does not default on its bonds, which have always been considered the safest investments in the world and vital to global financial transactions.
But under the Constitution, the lawsuit says, neither the president nor the Treasury secretary have the authority to decide what payments to make, since the Constitution gives only Congress the authority to determine spending.
“There is nothing in the Constitution or in any court decision that has interpreted the Constitution that allows Congress to give the president unrestricted discretion to exercise the spending power vested in the legislative branch by canceling, suspending, or refusing to incur already approved spending. by Congress,” the lawsuit says.
The National Association of Government Employees represents some 75,000 employees who it says are at risk of losing their jobs or benefits if Congress refuses to lift the debt ceiling. The current top, of regarding $31.4 trillion, was reached in January. But Yellen has used various accounting measures to keep from getting over it.
Last week, Yellen warned that the United States might hit the debt ceiling on June 1, much sooner than many analysts had predicted, because tax revenues turned out to be lower than expected. Republicans in Congress have refused to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats commit to deep spending cuts.
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