Since Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell first unveiled his plan to avoid a debt default, observers and critics have wondered aloud whether it passes Constitutional muster. The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, the argument goes, and, by transferring the authority to issue more debt entirely to the President, the plan could fall afoul of it — or so the argument goes.
This and other concerns have crept from the conservative Heritage Foundation to the Tea Party, and may ultimately call into doubt wither something like the McConnell plan can pass the House of Representatives.
But according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), whom I asked about these concerns, it’s just Tea Party nonsense.
“I’ve been to a few courthouses,” Reid said. “Any time around here with the new ‘Tea Party philosophy’ they seem to think they have an all-knowing wisdom about the Constitution, so in short that’s a bunch of garbage.”
So there’s your answer!
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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