Well it's entirely possible for a sufficiently reckless administration to pay off the debt tomorrow if they felt like it. The mint is allowed to make arbitrary denomination currency, they could mint a X-trillion dollar coin and pay off the debt with it if they felt like it.
But they'd probably get shot for doing it.
That said no, the article is not spot on. In any state where the government is a significant part of the employment/economy the government cutting spending is just going to keep money and jobs out of the economy.
Look at how much bickering the Republicans and Democrats have over even relatively minor issues. $10^9 is one 15-thousandth of the national debt and there's fights about such amounts.