President Obama / Charles Dharapak, AP
The White House repeated Thursday that President Obama does not have the power to raise the debt ceiling on his own; Congress has to do it.
During the debt ceiling dispute of 2011, and again during ongoing "fiscal cliff" talks, some supporters have suggested that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the president the power to pay the public's debts, with or without congressional action.
"This administration does not believe the 14th Amendment gives the president the power to ignore the debt ceiling -- period," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Added Carney: "We believe profoundly that Congress ought to simply do its job."
The legal limit on U.S. Treasury borrowing is $16.4 trillion, and the nation is expected to hit that ceiling early next year.
Lawmakers are debating whether to include the debt ceiling in talks over the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax hikes and budget cuts that take effect next year in an absence of a debt-reduction agreement.
While the 14th Amendment refers to "the validity of the public," some analysts say it refers only to Congress' obligations arising from the Civil War.
Ratified in 1868, shortly after the Civil War, part of the 14th Amendment states: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
Obama, asked about the 14th Amendment theory during a town hall meeting in 2011, said administration lawyers "are not persuaded that that is a winning argument."
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