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Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Cheney v. Trump

Gerard N. Magliocca

In the wake of her primary defeat, Representative Cheney is floating the idea of running against Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. That may seem like a pointless protest campaign. But given her role on the January 6th Committee, she may have another goal in mind.

In some states, only a primary candidate has standing to raise an eligibility challenge against another candidate. Thus, Representative Cheney may decide to run just so she can sue Donald Trump as ineligible under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to serve again as President. Indeed, you can imagine a case captioned "Cheney v. Trump" reaching the Supreme Court next year or early in 2024. If she is serious about preventing Trump from returning to the Oval Office (which is what she and her father said in recent weeks), a presidential campaign may be her best option.

No Republican candidate who is trying to win the nomination (in other words, Ron DeSantis) will make a Section Three argument. Suing Trump on that basis would make it impossible for that candidate to win the votes of lukewarm Trump supporters. Representative Cheney, though, won't be worried about them.


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