Following former president Donald Trump’s announcement that he is seeking re-election in the 2024 United States (US) Presidential Election, left-leaning advocacy groups are mobilizing efforts to block his candidacy under little-known constitutional provisions due to his role in the January 6 attack on the congress building. capitol.
That provision — Article 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution — says that “no person may” hold federal or state office who has previously taken an oath “to support the Constitution” and then “engages in rebellion or resistance” or “provides aid or comfort to an enemy” of the United States.
Known as the “disqualification clause,” the provision was adopted after the American Civil War of 1861-1865 to prevent defeated Confederate members from holding office in the post-war period.
The clause was largely dormant after Congress passed the Amnesty Act in 1872, lifting the penalty of disqualification for most former Confederate members.
However, after the deadly attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, advocacy organizations and some constitutional scholars say the clause is becoming relevant again.
“I’m not sure the 14th Amendment legislators could have imagined what the next insurrection would be like, but in drafting Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, they certainly provided Congress and provided the American public with the means to disqualify government officials involved in insurrection.
by passing the amendment,” said Donald Sherman, chief adviser to the government watchdog organization “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), in a conversation on Twitter Space last week.
Sherman said CREW stands ready to “take appropriate legal or advocacy action” to ensure Trump is disqualified under Article 3.
Within minutes of Trump’s announcement, two other left-leaning organizations — Free Speech for People and Mi Familia Vota — launched TrumpIsDisqualified.org, a campaign to urge state election officials to bar Trump from being named on the ballot.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with January 6, and conservative legal experts see attempts to disqualify him as remotely likely to succeed.
Noting that most courts have rejected recent efforts to disqualify supporting Trump candidates, Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said, “I think eventually it will get to the Supreme Court and be swiftly dismissed.”