Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R- Calif., walks in the Capitol Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R- Calif., walks in the Capitol Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sunday, May 21, 2023.

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Time for Biden to invoke the 14th amendment

So it has come to this. House Republicans are about to force the U.S. government to default on paying its debts – obligations that the Congress voted to make. They bluster that they will blow up the economy, tank the dollar, and destroy America’s good faith and credit unless they get their way – even as they are bitterly divided about what “their way” means. The stakes are unfathomable – and so it is worth being clear about what is happening.