Following the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court on Monday, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) pledged to “revive legislation” that would exclude candidates for president who have committed acts of “insurrection” from entering the race.
The decision followed the declarations of ineligibility for former President Donald Trump to appear on primary ballots by Colorado, Maine, and Illinois, invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, sometimes known as the insurrection clause.
The majority ruling said, in part, that “States have no jurisdiction under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal positions, including the Presidency.” However, because this left up the possibility that Congress might utilize legislation to enforce Section 3, Raskin indicated his intention to do just that.
“We have consistently maintained that the 14th Amendment’s Section 3 clearly and unequivocally states that anyone who has taken an oath of office and engaged in insurrection or rebellion after swearing to uphold the Constitution against both foreign and domestic enemies is ineligible to hold any federal or state office again,” Raskin told CNN’s Dana Bash. “Donald Trump is a disqualified person.”
He said, “I am collaborating with other colleagues, such as Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Eric Swalwell, to bring back legislation that established a procedure by which we may decide that an insurrectionist is ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Raskin asserted, “And the House of Representatives already impeached Trump for participating in rebellion by encouraging it,” in spite of the Senate’s prior failure to find Trump guilty on the accusation and the lack of a trial in this regard.
The House has already made a decision on it, and the Senate also voted in favor of it, 57 to 43. He remarked, “The question is whether or not Speaker Mike Johnson would permit us to bring this to the House floor.”
