Senator Schumer Leaves Door Open To 14th Amendment Measure To Bar Trump From Office
Democrats will not let former President Donald Trump off the hook even if he’s acquitted at the ongoing Senate impeachment trial.
Top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said they are not ruling out the idea of pushing a measure that would bar the former Republican president from office — should they fail to secure enough votes in the Senate to convict Trump.
Democrats have been floating the idea of invoking the 14th Amendment of the Constitution if former President Trump is acquitted should they end up not getting the 67 votes they need to push forward with the Trump impeachment and to bar him from holding public office in the future.
Schumer leaves door open to 14th Amendment measure to bar Trump from office https://t.co/kkreLfDwuU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 11, 2021
“We’re first going to finish the impeachment trial and then Democrats will get together and discuss where we go next,” the Senate Majority leader told a news conference Thursday.
The senator also reportedly lauded the case made by impeachment managers at the Democrat-controlled House when they charge the former president of allegedly “inciting violence” related to the January 6 chaos at Capitol Hill — as he sounded optimistic that “it will change minds.”
“It’s hard to look at that and not see the gravity of what happened,” Senator Schumer claimed.
The 14th Amendment states that Congress could bar people who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” the amendment states.
It added that “Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
Contrary to the impeachment grounds being pushed by Democrats against former President Trump, the 14th Amendment was originally drafted to stop former Confederates from serving in the government after the Civil War.
Unlike convicting President Trump, however, which needs ⅔ of the Senate votes, invoking the 14th Amendment will require only a simple majority to pass. To convict the former Republican president, 17 Republicans need to side with Democrats — although 45 out of the 50 Senate Republicans already voted last week to rule the impeachment as ‘unconstitutional.’
“I think the president should be tried. I hope he will vote to be convicted,” Schumer earlier said. “Anything past that is something we can discuss, but he deserves conviction, nothing less.”
Democrats have launched a second impeachment against the former President on allegations of “inciting an insurrection” through his social media posts related to the January 6 chaos in Capitol Hill.
The House voted January 13 to impeach the former Republican president 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining the Democrats who all voted against Trump.
The Senate impeachment trial started on February 9.
