Biden will not invoke 14th Amendment, deputy Treasury secretary says

President Joe Biden will not invoke the 14th Amendment in the debt ceiling fight, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.

“I think the president and secretary are clear that that will not solve our problems now. So, yes, that is a no,” Adeyemo said on CNN Friday morning when asked about the issue.

White House officials have said they don’t see the 14th Amendment — which says the “validity of the public debt” cannot be questioned — as a viable means of circumventing debt ceiling negotiations. Biden himself has said that he sees a bipartisan deal as the only option to the current standoff, casting doubt on the 14th Amendment as workable in public remarks.

Adeyemo’s remarks are the most concrete indication yet that Biden does not plan to use the amendment to solve the nation’s debt ceiling issue. The U.S. risks economic calamity if a debt deal isn’t reached.

“The 14th Amendment can’t solve our challenges now. Ultimately, the only thing that can do that is Congress doing what it’s done 78 other times — raising the debt limit,” the deputy treasury secretary said. “We don’t have a plan B that allows us to meet the commitments that we’ve made to our creditors, to our seniors, to our veterans, to the American people.”