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So, IMO, if the GOP House really does fail to raise the debt ceiling, and all the "extraordinary measures" run out in June, then I think that Biden's unilateral options (minting the coin, invoking the 14th Amendment, executing the spending laws that Congress has passed, etc.) are better, policy-wise, than default.
But I think that they are bad politics. They will turn the political focus away from "why isn't the GOP raising the limit?" to "Biden's gimmicks."
Also any unilateral option would almost certainly spook markets, and Biden/Dems would get 100% of that blowback.
So if you are the GOP, I think that you would want Biden to take unilateral action.
So that means, game theory-wise, if you are Biden and you have decided that you will take unilateral action before allowing a default, then the only thing that you can do is to continue to insist that you won't do it up until the moment that you do.
Right? As soon as you signal "I will do this politically unpopular thing if you guys don't back down," then you have guaranteed that the GOP won't back down.
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