A Way Out of the Debt Ceiling Crisis
Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on raising the United States federal government’s debt ceiling and preventing a catastrophic default on June 1. President Joe Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday but were unable to resolve their disagreements. Republicans want to extract deep spending cuts from Democrats in exchange for voting to raise the debt ceiling. It’s a battle that has been fought many times in the past.
Meanwhile, unionized government employees are stepping in. The National Association of Government Employees has filed a lawsuit citing the 14th Amendment and calling the debt limit unconstitutional. NAGE president David Holway explained that, “This litigation is both an effort to protect our members from illegal furloughs and to correct an unconstitutional statute that frequently creates uncertainty and anxiety for millions of Americans.”
Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of The Revolving Door Project spoke with YES! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on Rising Up With Sonali about the political fight and the numerous options that are available to lawmakers to end it.
The views expressed here and on Rising Up With Sonali do not necessarily reflect the opinion of YES! Media.
Inspiration in Your Inbox
Sign up to receive email updates from YES!
