Biden over the weekend signaled the 14th Amendment option isn't completely off the table for the future. Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection and Other Rights.Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office. The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. According to Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the president does not have the authority to unilaterally raise or suspend the debt ceiling. The 14th amendment states that the validity of the public debt shall never be questioned. The Texas system does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The debt ceiling requires us to not pay the debt unless the ceiling is raised or some work around is found. Yes, the 14th Amendment says that the national debt "shall not be questioned".