It gives Congress express constitutional authority to pass legislation implementing a ban on insurrectionists holding office, rather than requiring Congress to fall back on other powers - such as its power over interstate commerce - that are more general and thus less focused on the task at hand. The second relevant part, Section 5, states: “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” This is important. The first, Section 3, provides: “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” There are actually two sections in the 14th amendment that come into play. 6 committee aims for a series of public hearings in the spring - and even some members of the GOP appear to be open to some aspects of election reform - it’s worth revisiting this legislative avenue, and whether the damning revelations already unearthed by the committee’s investigation have sufficiently changed the political landscape within Congress that passing such a law might now be possible - maybe even preferable. But that option seemed to lose some of its appeal as Republicans and Democrats resumed their partisan crouches and major domestic legislative initiatives took center stage. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, scholars and legal experts floated the idea of using this part of the Constitution to do what impeachment ultimately failed to do - permanently bar Trump from holding elected office. Jamie Raskin, specifically invoked the 14th amendment in remarks to POLITICO this week, calling its use “a live proposition.” What Cheney and her congressional colleagues might have in mind is the 14th amendment, which was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from holding state or federal office and thus disrupting the fragile Reconstruction effort.Ĭheney’s colleague on the committee, Maryland Democratic Rep. And it might be more effective than any potential criminal prosecution. While many have expressed frustration that Attorney General Merrick Garland has not yet charged anyone who might have fomented the riot from inside the government, Cheney’s remarks remind us that Congress has a powerful tool at its disposal to hold former officials such as Trump accountable. “I think one of the really important things that our committee has to do is lay these facts out for the American people,” Cheney responded, “…so that they inform us in terms of our legislative activity going forward” (emphasis added).Ĭheney’s reference to “legislative activity” is telling.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |