The National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of a law that sets the nation’s debt limit, arguing it is unconstitutional as a political divide over raising the borrowing cap comes to a head.
The lawsuit contends that, if the debt limit is reached, President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would be forced to decide which payments to prioritize, violating separation of powers by taking over Congress’s spending authority.
“The Debt Limit Statute is unconstitutional because it puts the President in a quandary to exercise discretion to continue borrowing to pay for the programs which Congress has heretofore duly authorized and for which Congress has appropriated funds or to stop borrowing and to determine which of these programs the President, and not the Congress, will suspend, curtail, or cancel altogether,” the complaint states.
Yellen has said that the U.S. could default on its debt as early as June 1 if the borrowing limit is not raised.
President Biden will meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the other three top congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the debt ceiling, but a deal still appears far off.
NAGE represents nearly 75,000 federal employees and asserts that its members are at imminent risk of layoff or furlough once the limit is reached.
“Unless and until the Debt Limit Statute is amended or revised to allow Congress to determine the priority of payments among specific...
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