WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) are working on a bill to ban former President Donald Trump (R) from holding federal office by barring him from appearing on any ballot.
This news comes after the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously against the State of Colorado’s attempt to invoke the 14th Amendment to keep President Trump from appearing on the ballot.
In May of 2022, Rep. Wasserman Schultz introduced a similar bill to the 117th Congress.
A summary of the legislation from Congress’ official bill tracker states:
“This bill establishes a civil action through which an individual may be disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This includes an individual who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or has given aid or comfort to the enemies of the United States.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz spoke to The Floridian regarding her and Rep. Raskin’s attempt to change the original bill after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision.
“It’s an implementing bill, essentially and we’ll have to revise it. Congressman Raskin and I introduced it at the end of last Congress, the end of ’22,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “Essentially, we have a resolution that we’ll file that declares Jan. 6 an insurrection and implementing legislation that establishes a process for disqualifying someone who committed insurrection.”
Furthermore, Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) provided a comment on the aspect of the resurrection of the legislation.
“I’m still curious: when was there an insurrection? I think that the recent 9-0 unanimous decision by SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) very clearly stated that it wasn’t going to be an insurrection just by its overall ruling to make sure to prove that it was unconstitutional,” said Rep. Mills. “If it was a 14th Amendment issue where they’re trying to say that you can be disqualified which hasn’t happened since 1868 was the last time someone was disqualified. And prior to that, I think it was those who were Confederate soldiers who actually did lead an armed insurrection – armed being the key phrase here.
“Again, I think that they’re trying to run a rabbit hole that’s going to go nowhere. And it’s just for messaging because they realize how bad 2024’s election is going to turn out for the Biden administration, for the Senate which we’re going to reclaim, and also for holding the House. So, they’re still trying to run on the 2020, 2022 talking points because they have nothing new. But the SCOTUS 9-0 unanimous decision I think should put a nail in the coffin for him,” said Rep. Mills.
Finally, the Florida Republican answered whether Democrats will once again look at packing the high court.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that they will do this. You’ve got these radical, left-wing media pundits who are actually off their rocker like Keith Olbermann or whatever his name is, who are trying to now ridicule the Supreme Court for this 9-0 ruling.
“However, if you would have flipped the tables and President Trump was trying to keep Joe Biden – which, he would never do this because he understands the impact of election interference – but was trying to keep Biden off the ballots from states like Florida and Texas and others, they’d be celebrating and cheering and making this a huge talking point. The only thing is, the 9-0 ruling doesn’t work in their favor. So now they’re going to try and do things like expanding the courts, which we absolutely cannot allow,” concluded Mills.
If Wasserman Schultz and Raskin’s bill receives considerable Democratic support, it is highly unlikely that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would consider it for a vote on the House Floor.
