Tipsheet

Democrats Jump at Chance to 'Revive Legislation' to Kick Trump Off of the Ballot

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  March 04, 2024 8:45 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 decision on Monday that Colorado erred in removing former and potentially future President Donald Trump from the ballot. As the Court ruled, though, "responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States." Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin (MD), Eric Swalwell (CA), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) have thus wasted no time in their crusade to "revive legislation" to kick Trump off of the ballot and deny the American people their right to vote for or against him.

As Raskin explained it when offering his reaction to CNN's Dana Bash, these and other members are working "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."

Raskin continued to bring up claims about an "insurrection," as he reminded that the House impeached Trump in 2021 "for participating in insurrection by inciting it." The Senate voted 57-43 to hold him guilty, falling short of the necessary two-thirds vote. It's worth reminding that the trial in the Senate for this second impeachment against Trump didn't take place until President Joe Biden had already been sworn in and taken office. 

"The question is whether Speaker Mike Johnson would allow us to bring this to the floor of the House," Raskin went on to say, something he likely would not do. 

Raskin also makes a key point when he points out that they're "reviv[ing] legislation," given that they've been at such a crusade for some time, and separate from their efforts through the Court. In previous sessions of Congress, Democrats have introduced legislation to make Trump ineligible from holding public office. 

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Jeff Clark, who worked for the Department of Justice under the Trump administration noted though that "[a]t some level, you have to admire that Marxists like Raskin never give up." Clark also spoke to how the GOP's "ranks are very thin on members this persistent."

Ever since Trump took office in 2017, Raskin has been against him. As one of his first moves as a member of Congress, Raskin objected to the certification of the 2016 Electoral College vote. He even bragged about such a move on his official website. 

Raskin's reach doesn't look to be limited to trying to pass federal legislation. A pinned post from his political X account from Monday advertises a "nationwide constitutional law class debunking big right-wing falliaces" that he's co-teaching with Brian Tyler Cohen. Predictably, the first topic discusses "is it undemocratic or unconstitutional to disqualify insurrectionists from the White House?"

Many of the replies, including from the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, have been less than kind. Such replies called to mind Hunter Biden's involvement with Chinese-linked companies. 

For all of his expertise, as Bash reminded Raskin, the Court "effectively says that they don't agree with [your] argument. Harvard Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz, a Democrat who has voted against but also defended Trump, has also called out Raskin by name for misinterpreting Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Raskin was even a student of Dershowitz at Harvard, with the professor emeritus pointing out that the congressman "obviously doesn't" remember being taught by him.

Proposed legislation from Democrats is not the only idea they have to deny voters the right to vote for or against Trump in 2024. Last month, the Atlantic published an article on "How Democrats Could Disqualify Trump If the Supreme Court Doesn’t," which discussed Democratic members' refusals to certify the election results if Trump beat Biden. According to RealClearPolling, Trump currently has a lead of +2.1 against Biden when it comes to this rematch from 2020.