Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act

Enumerated powers · passes

Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 grants Congress the power 'To establish... uniform Laws on the Subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States.' This bill directly amends the Bankruptcy Code, which is squarely within that enumerated power. Adjusting debt limits for Subchapter V and Chapter 13 is a permissible exercise of this authority.

Bill of Rights · passes

The bill does not implicate any of the first ten amendments. It does not affect speech, religion, assembly, press, petition, arms, quartering, search and seizure, self-incrimination, due process, takings, trial rights, jury rights, cruel and unusual punishment, unenumerated rights, or reserved powers. It merely adjusts monetary thresholds for bankruptcy eligibility.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill expands access to bankruptcy relief by raising debt limits, thereby increasing individual and small business options for financial reorganization. It does not restrict personal liberty, property, speech, labor, or belief. Rather, it enhances individual sovereignty by allowing more debtors to use streamlined bankruptcy procedures.

Decentralization · passes

Bankruptcy is a federal constitutional matter, and the Constitution explicitly assigns it to Congress. The four-question test: (1) Individuals cannot handle bankruptcy without government involvement—it requires legal discharge of debt; (2) Local communities cannot handle bankruptcy—it requires uniform national law; (3) States cannot handle bankruptcy—the Constitution reserves this to the federal government; (4) This action does not consolidate decision-making upward beyond the constitutional minimum—it is already federal. The bill passes all four questions.

Due process and takings · passes

The bill does not deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process. It does not take property for public use without just compensation. It merely adjusts eligibility thresholds for bankruptcy proceedings, which are themselves designed to provide due process to debtors and creditors. There is no arbitrary government action; the changes are rational and economic.