Jamie Raskin plans to revive legislation barring Trump from office via 14th amendment
Former President Donald Trump escaped ballot exile in Colorado on Monday thanks to the Supreme Court — but Rep. Jamie Raskin wants Congress to step in and dump the former president.
Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, is hatching plans to revive legislation he crafted that could jettison Trump from the ballot due to his actions revolving around Jan. 6, 2021.
“In any event, the Supreme Court punted and said it’s up to Congress to act,” Raskin told CNN Monday after the high court’s ruling.
“I am working with a number of my colleagues, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Eric Swalwell, to revive legislation that we had to set up a process by which we could determine that someone who committed insurrection is disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”
In a unanimous ruling Monday, the Supreme Court concluded that Colorado lacked the authority to unilaterally yank him from the primary ballot under the Disqualification Clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Four of the justices fussed over some of the broad language in the majority opinion, which effectively punted the question to Congress.
“Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse,” the court concluded.
Raskin, an alumna of Harvard Law School underscored that he disagrees with the court’s interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, arguing that other aspects of the amendment are known to be “self-executing.”
The Marylander, who sat on the since-defunct House Select Jan. 6 Committee, also served as an impeachment manager during the second one against Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“The House of Representatives already impeached Donald Trump for participating in insurrection by inciting it,” he added. “The question is whether Speaker Mike Johnson would allow us to bring this to the floor of the House.”
Notably, the Senate came up short of convicting Trump, which would have prohibited him from running again, according to some legal experts.
Three states had attempted to boot Trump from the ballot, including Colorado, Maine, and most recently Illinois.
They cited the Disqualification Clause, which stipulates “No person shall…hold any office, civil or military, under the United States…[who] shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
That provision also gives Congress the power to remove that “disability” and allow violators back on the ballot.
During oral arguments last month, justices sounded uneasy that allowing the states to unilaterally disqualify Trump would open the floodgates to a spate of frivolous ballot ousters.
Trump cheered the high court’s ruling Monday. He appointed a third of the justices on the Supreme Court.
“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account minutes after the ruling.
“I have great respect for the Supreme Court, and I just want to thank them for working so quickly and so diligently and so brilliantly.”
