White House Official Says No Chance 14th Amendment Will Be Used in Debt Fight

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo gave the clearest indication the 14th Amendment isn't an option when it comes to the White House strategy on the debt ceiling fight.

Appearing on “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow, Adeyemo reiterated what the White House said earlier in the week: that the 14th Amendment "can't solve our challenges."

Some Senate Democrats have pushed Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment as a way to circumvent the debt ceiling negotiations. Negotiators have been put under more pressure as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen floated June 1 as a date the U.S. could default on its debts.

The 14th Amendment states that the “validity of the public debt” cannot be questioned. 

Adeyemo said the way forward is raising the debt ceiling -- what has happened the "78 other times." “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. The only plan we have is the only one that's worked for 200 years in this country.”

Harlow pushed Adeyemo for a more concrete answer on invoking the 14th Amendment, following up her debt ceiling question by asking if he was simply saying “no” to the possibility. 

“I think the president and the secretary have been very clear that that will not solve our problems now, so yes, that is a no,” he said.