[Cboldt]

What the constitution forbids is "questioning the validity" of the debt. A technical default (for example, being late in making a payment), if or when one occurs, is not the same as questioning the validity of the debt.

Pointed out just above, Congress also has the power to create money , so it can, under the constitution, create script that pays off the debt.

[Thane_Banquo]

What the constitution forbids is "questioning the validity" of the debt. A technical default (for example, being late in making a payment), if or when one occurs, is not the same as questioning the validity of the debt.

IIRC, this was passed due to some politicians wanting to nullify debts and military pensions incurred by the Union in the Civil War.