W.House Addresses 14th Amendment on Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House Friday addressed increasing calls by some Democrats for President Barack Obama to raise the debt ceiling on his own by invoking the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

"This administration does not believe that the 14th amendment gives the president the power to ignore the debt ceiling," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

A clause dating from the Civil War era of the 1860s says the U.S. public debt "shall not be questioned." The White House has resisted taking such a step. (Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Laura MacInnis, Steve Holland, editing by Todd Eastham)