Over the past year, a host of Democratic lawmakers, pro-democracy activists, and scholars "have been quietly exploring" the possibility of using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution to disqualify former President Trump from holding office again in light of
the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot,
The Hill reports.
Part of the 14th Amendment, Section 3 was ratified after the Civil War and stipulates that officeholders who "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same" are disqualified from future office. President Joe Biden described the 6 January 2021 events as an insurrection during his speech to mark the first anniversary of the Capitol riot on Thursday.
Tribe argued that whether a push for Trump's disqualification under the 14th Amendment gains more support or wider legislative traction may depend on what the 6 January House Select Committee ultimately reveals about the 45th president's alleged role in the events of that day.
The Hill referred to its analysis, which revealed that about a dozen Democratic lawmakers have spoken "either publicly or privately" with Tribe about the use of Section 3, including Jamie Raskin, who sits on the 6 January House Select Committee, Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Raskin told ABC News last February that legal the mechanics "to keep people exactly like Donald Trump and other traitors to the union from holding public office [again]" would require "more research".
She was echoed by John Bonifaz, head of the pro-democracy group Free Speech for People, who told The Hill that they "intend to litigate this question", adding, "if a secretary of state does not follow the mandate of Section 3, the 14th Amendment, we will bring this matter in court".
Gerard Magliocca, a law professor at Indiana University, was not as certain, saying in an interview with The Hill that "if a secretary of state declines to find Trump ineligible, it is far from clear who could challenge that determination".
At the time, scores of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building to stop lawmakers from certifying the results of
the 2020 presidential election from several states that the former president claimed were fraudulent. Five people died during the riots, and dozens more were injured, including at least 138 police officers.
Trump first called on his supporters to fight "like hell" but then urged them to go home. He was then impeached for an unprecedented second time over accusations of "incitement of insurrection", but managed to evade conviction in the Senate.