@csgordon@zirk.us @gwaldby

You're also making an error of conflating appropriating funding versus increasing authorized debt. Those two things are, both in terms of accounting and in terms of the Constitution, independent actions.

Congress can authorize the executive branch to spend, tax, and borrow, three different things.

Consider what happens if Congress authorizes spending that they expect to be completely covered by the authorized taxing, but throughout the year there is an economic downturn so that tax revenues fall short. Separately Congress may or may not choose to authorize borrowing to cover the shortfall.

So these are different and independent choices that Congress may or may not make. The executive is bound by what Congress chooses to do, but it is still in the hands of the executive to act within the bounds that Congress sets.

The US design of government is actually really interesting and really useful, really practical. Far too few people really appreciate how it works.