Reid: Obama shouldn’t use 14th Amendment to raise debt ceiling

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that President Obama should not invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

At his weekly press conference, Reid told reporters, “We should play by the rules,” noting that previous Democratic and Republican presidents have worked with Congress to pass legislation on the debt ceiling, which now stands at $14.3 trillion.

{mosads}In recent days amid the stalemate in the budget talks, there has been more speculation that Obama could use it as a last resort and,at the very least, as leverage in the negotiations.

While clearly expressing his opposition to such a move, Reid blamed Republicans for not being willing to compromise on the debt ceiling.

He noted that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has previously backed raising the debt ceiling, adding that the ceiling was raised a dozen times during former President Reagan’s two terms.

The Treasury Department has said that Secretary Timothy Geithner has not advocated using the amendment to bypass the debt ceiling.