As Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and other Democrats urged President Joe Biden to use the 14th Amendment to avoid a disastrous default, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly pushed back.
What Happened: The Chamber, a pro-business trade group that is known for backing Republicans, in a letter to Team Biden on Friday, warned of economic, financial, and legal turmoil if Washington attempts to invoke the 14th Amendment amid the debt ceiling crisis, reported CNN.
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Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a former senior aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in a letter, said, "It is the Chamber's view that attempting to invoke so-called ‘powers' under the 14th Amendment would be as economically calamitous as a default by a failure to lift the debt limit in a timely manner."
The chief of the chamber said the 14th Amendment would send U.S. Treasury rates spiking and would further lift the cost of borrowing for families and businesses. "The legal uncertainty around this debt combined with increased interest costs would impose significant and long-term costs on the economy similar to default."
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"Simply put, there is no alternative to reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the statutory debt limit."
Why It Matters: Many experts have cautioned that invoking the 14th Amendment could lead to a constitutional crisis in the country. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also expressed skepticism regarding the feasibility of this idea.
The U.S. markets also reacted negative on Friday amid news that the debt ceiling negotiations between Biden and the House Republicans have hit a snag.
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