The Congressman Who Jump Started 'Mint The Coin' Criticizes The White House For Ruling Out A Bargaining Chip

Getty

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Congressman who first promoted the idea of the Federal Reserve minting a trillion-dollar platinum coin to work around the debt ceiling, said Saturday night that its demise is a "shame." In response, Nadler said he would soon introduce legislation to permanently repeal the debt ceiling altogether.

In a statement provided to Business Insider, Nadler questioned why the Obama administration would rule out "one of the very few bargaining chips it has" on the debt ceiling if Congressional Republicans do not agree to raise it by sometime next month.

Earlier on Saturday, both the Treasury and White House officially ruled out the trillion-dollar coin option as a means of working around the debt ceiling. The White House has also repeatedly declined to consider another theoretical option — invoking the 14th Amendment.

Here's Nadler's full statement on the situation:

"It's really a shame that the administration is ruling out one of the very few bargaining chips it has with Republican extremists who are intent, once again, on using the debt ceiling as a means of political blackmail. That leaves us just two options of which I'm aware to gain leverage against GOP hostage takers: the 14th amendment and repealing the debt ceiling altogether through legislation I'll soon introduce. We must be prepared to use every weapon within our arsenal to prevent defaulting on our debts and sending our economy into a tailspin."

Nadler was the only member of Congress to explicitly promote the trillion-dollar coin option. The top four Senate Democrats wrote President Barack Obama a letter on Friday urging him to "take any lawful steps" to work around the debt ceiling, but they did not specifically endorse the coin as an option.

Nadler's statement is further evidence that Democrats are somewhat dumbfounded by the administration's decision to rule out the trillion-dollar coin option. Earlier, a Senate Democratic aide told Business Insider that "it's certainly a strange negotiating strategy to go out of your way to decrease your leverage by taking options off the table."

For more on the White House and Treasury's decision, see here >