Balkinization  

Thursday, February 04, 2021

Congressional Declarations on Presidential Eligibility

Gerard N. Magliocca

One question that people are asking about applying Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to Donald Trump is whether there is any precedent for the Senate passing a resolution giving its opinion on the constitutional eligibility or ineligibility of a single person to be President. 

The answer is yes. In 2008, the Senate passed a resolution stating its opinion that John McCain was a Natural Born Citizen eligible to the President. (McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, which gave rise to claims that he was constitutional ineligible). The resolution, if you want to take a look, is S. Res. 511 (110th Congress).

If the Senate can declare its view that someone is eligible under the Constitution to be President, why can't the Senate declare its view that someone is ineligible under the Constitution?



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