Sovereign currency issuers don't have debt the way non-sovereign entities do (or sovereign entities that use a currency they don't issue). The federal governmen

Sovereign currency issuers don't have debt the way non-sovereign entities do (or sovereign entities that use a currency they don't issue). The federal government can always coin money to pay its debts if it needs to. So the likely outcome of the democratic House trying to force a default is Trump ordering Mnuchin to mint a $1 trillion platinum coin with Trump's profile on the obverse and depositing it at the Fed. Which will then be enjoined by a 9th circuit district judge because Trump did it, even though back in the Obama years the exact same thing was acknowledged as entirely legal. Remember the funds are already legally appropriated! So minting a coin isn't the executive violating separation of powers. It's just an accounting gimmick. The resulting funds can still only be spent as authorized by congress. Another factor is that the Fed might just let Treasury overdraw it's account. Even normal commercial banks can allow demand account holders to spend into the negative as a courtesy. I imagine extremely wealthy private individuals with a private banking relationship can overdraw into the millions. The Treasury is obviously an extremely wealthy "person," not just because it can create money (by coining, I'm not sure if Treasury can still print US Notes, but I do know it doesn't), but also because of its taxing power, vast real estate holdings, and other assets.