Biden could invoke the 14th Amendment to force another Treasury auction. The buyers of government bonds might not be so sure that this debt they would be borrowing is actually going to pay off down the road. An actual default on the debt could be crippling chaos. But in this case, what's going to happen is the government will at least keep that money flowing into the economy.
In a high-stakes showdown this week, President Biden and the leaders of congress met face to face in an effort to avoid the United States defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The Times, explains how close the country is to financial calamity, and the radical step Biden might take to avoid it.
Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.
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