The Next Challenge: Raising the Debt Ceiling

As the United States government continues its shutdown, The New York Times references Professor Neil H. Buchanan in an opinion piece about the next federal funding challenge—raising the debt ceiling. Professor Buchanan says, "as bad as the shutdown is, yet another confrontation over the debt ceiling will be much, much worse." The Constitution mandates that the president spend what Congress requires him to spend while borrowing no more than Congress authorizes. However, President Obama will not be able to fulfill both of these legal obligations if Congress does not raise the national debt limit in mid-October. In that situation, Professor Buchanan argues that disregarding the debt ceiling is the most legally acceptable option available to the president. He fully explains his reasoning in his new scholarship, The Debt Ceiling Disasters.