Because Donald Trump’s conduct pushes so many envelopes, he attracts a constant stream of creative interpretations of the Constitution and the federal criminal code from people looking for a magic bullet to take him down. I’ve previously explained why Trump can be impeached even after leaving office, and why it might now be justifiable to remove him under the 25th Amendment. But a third theory has also been invoked by a number of commentators on the left, and even raised as a possibility by Nancy Pelosi: that Congress could disqualify Trump from holding future office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. And this one, unlike the first two, doesn’t pass the smell test.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which passed Congress in 1866 and was ratified in 1868, bans anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution as a federal or state officer — a category that plainly includes the president — from “hold[ing] any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state” if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
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