If someone's shorting the security at maturity, there won't be a court case; they'll simply lose money when the inevitable government action redeems the notes a

If someone's shorting the security at maturity, there won't be a court case; they'll simply lose money when the inevitable government action redeems the notes at face value via some mechanism. While it is possible that the United States could default, a naked short to take that position would be like saying, "Hey, I bet you $100 that this steamroller will stop if I jump right in front of it." If you think the US will default, it might be wiser to go long something that will grow in value in the chaos that would immediately follow.