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Democrats quietly explore barring

Trump from o!ice over Jan. 6
BY JOHN KRUZEL - 01/06/22 06:01 AM EST 7,833 COMMENTS

5,209 SHARES SHARE TWEET

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In the year since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a handful of Democrats, 549 SHARES

DoD's biggest problems constitutional scholars and pro-democracy advocates have been quietly
with a continuing exploring how a post-Civil War amendment to the Constitution might be Romney defends Rounds
4
resolution come from following...
used to disqualify former President Trump from holding o!ice again.
Congress 418 SHARES
OPINION — 35M 15S AGO Calls for Congress to take steps to strip Trump of his eligibility, which
reached a crescendo in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, have since Supreme Court issues
5
Florida school bars decreased. But those who remain engaged on the issue say discussions revised...
teaching about 'gender about applying Section 3 of the 14th Amendment have been ongoing. 296 SHARES
fluidity' or 'mainstream
narrative' of COVID “If anything, the idea has waxed and waned,” said Laurence Tribe, a McCarthy says he'll strip
CHANGING AMERICA constitutional expert at Harvard Law School. “I hear it being raised with 6
Dems of...
— 1H 5M AGO
considerable frequency these days both by media commentators and by
273 SHARES
members of Congress and their staffs, some of whom have sought my
The 10 most unusual advice on how to implement Section 3.”
items confiscated by LOAD MORE

TSA in 2021 An analysis by The Hill found that

CHANGING AMERICA around a dozen Democratic
— 1H 15M AGO
lawmakers have spoken either
publicly or privately over the last
Joe Rogan announces year about how Section 3 of the 14th
he's going on meat and Amendment might apply to those
fruit diet for next month
who engaged in insurrection on Jan.
CHANGING AMERICA
— 1H 20M AGO 6.

Among those whose o!ices have

Boebert, Clyde fined for spoken recently with Tribe are Rep.
defying House floor Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who sits on the
mask mandate
Jan. 6 House Select Committee; Rep.
HOUSE — 1H 20M AGO
Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee;
VIEW ALL and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

“I continue to explore all legal paths to ensure that the people who tried to
subvert our democracy are not in charge of it,” Wasserman Schultz told
The Hill.

Nadler and Raskin did not respond to a request for comment.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War,
says that o!iceholders who "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
Related News by against the same" are disqualified from future o!ice.

Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, served as a House manager

during Trump’s impeachment trial over his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Days
after Trump's acquittal in the Senate, Raskin discussed the constitutional
provision in a press interview, saying Trump was “right in the bullseye
middle of that group."
Karl Rove: Republicans
should not allow… "The point is that the constitutional
purpose is clear, to keep people
exactly like Donald Trump and other
traitors to the union from holding
public o!ice," he told ABC News on
Feb. 17, adding that the legal
Kinzinger says Jan. 6 mechanics would require "more
panel already has… research."

Most constitutional scholars who

spoke to The Hill think the provision
is not “self-executing.” In practical
terms, that means applying Section
DeSantis: Jan. 6 is 3 to Trump would require an additional step by lawmakers to make the
'Christmas' for… 14th Amendment operative.
Video
Some scholars believe that Congress, by a simple majority in both
chambers, could act on its own to find Trump engaged in insurrection,
which would implicate the constitutional provision. Under the 14th
Amendment, restoring Trump’s eligibility would then require a
The Israeli-made Face supermajority vote.
Mask Everyone Is…
Sponsored | Sonovia Other experts, like Tribe of Harvard, say Congress would need to go
further, either by establishing a neutral fact-finding body to determine
whether Trump engaged in insurrection under Section 3, or assigning that Health expert says other COVID-
fact-finding role to a federal court. 19 variants 'pale in comparison' to
delta
One bill, introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) after Trump’s Senate RISING
impeachment trial last February, would permit the attorney general to
make the case before a three-judge panel that an o!ice holder
had violated the provision and should be barred from future o!ice.

In addition to legislative discussions, other efforts have focused on

pressuring state elections o!icials with a view toward private litigation
over the issue.

One pro-democracy group, Free Speech For People, has mounted a

pressure campaign on top state elections o!icials to apply the 14th Meet the company that is
Amendment to Trump should he run again. Doing so would effectively bar revolutionizing e-commerce by
Trump’s name from appearing on their state’s ballot in 2024. conquering the mountain of
packages outside your front door
This summer, the group sent letters to chief election o!icials for all 50 CHANGING AMERICA
states and Washington, D.C., making the case that they have a
constitutional duty to bar Trump from appearing on future state ballots.
The group argues the provision doesn’t require additional steps by
Congress because the 14th Amendment is already operative by itself.

“Just as states are permitted (if not required) to exclude from the
presidential ballot a candidate who is not a natural born citizen, who is
underage, or who has previously been elected twice as president, so too
states should exclude from the ballot a candidate, such as Mr. Trump, who
Policy analyst says massive
previously swore to support the Constitution, but then engaged in defense bill puts US in 'arms race'
insurrection,” their letter to Georgia's top election o!icial argues. with China
RISING
And if the elections o!icials don’t comply?

“We intend to litigate this question,” John Bonifaz, the group's president,
told The Hill. “So if a secretary of state does not follow the mandate of
Section 3, the 14th Amendment, we will bring this matter in court.”

But some scholars think such lawsuits could face serious hurdles and
would likely face a challenge in the Supreme Court.

“If a Secretary of State declines to How one restaurateur is feeding

find Trump ineligible, it is far from the hungry and helping
clear who could challenge that restaurants stay open during the
determination,” said Gerard pandemic
Magliocca, a law professor at Indiana CHANGING AMERICA

University, who noted that state law

varies widely on the issue.

According to Tribe, if lawsuits arose

over Trump's eligibility in 2024, the
outcome of that litigation would
likely hinge on whether a neutral
fact-finder setup by Congress had
previously determined that Trump's role in the Jan. 6 attack triggered
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Absent that, a lawsuit by Trump
challenging his exclusion from a ballot would “stand a good chance of
success,” he said.

North Carolina voters file suit to disqualify Cawthorn from running...

Jim Jordan rejects Jan. 6 panel's request to cooperate in...

Whether a push for Trump's disqualification under the 14th Amendment

gains wider support or more legislative traction may turn on what the Jan.
6 House panel ultimately reveals about his role.

“Once that committee makes clear, as I trust it will, that what took place
was indeed an insurrection that triggers Section 3 of the 14th Amendment
and that supports criminal prosecution by DOJ of those responsible, it is
di!icult to imagine this not becoming a logical next step,” Tribe said.

Mike Lillis contributed to this report.

TAGS DONALD TRUMP JAMIE RASKIN JERROLD NADLER DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
JERRY NADLER STEVE COHEN 14TH AMENDMENT JAN. 6 CAPITOL ATTACK
DONALD TRUMP IMPEACHMENT

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