House Democrats Introduce Legislation That Would Bar Trump From The Presidency

Democratic Rep. David N. Cicilline of Rhode Island, along with 40 other Democratic House representatives, introduced a bill Thursday that would ban former President Donald Trump from serving a second term.

Trump announced on Nov. 15 that he was running for a second term during an event at Mar-a-Lago just days after the midterm elections. Cicilline claimed that Trump’s involvement on Jan. 6 made Trump unfit for office by engaging in “insurrection,” according to the press release about the bill.

“Donald Trump very clearly engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, with the intention of overturning the lawful and fair results of the 2020 election. You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy,” Cicilline stated in the press release. “The 14^th Amendment makes clear that based on his past behavior, Donald Trump is disqualified from ever holding federal office again and, under Section 5, Congress has the power to pass legislation to implement this prohibition.”

The 28-page bill justifies barring Trump from holding any elected office “civil or military” by invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The 1868 amendment was used to justify barring former Confederates from holding federal office after the Civil War.

Findings from the Jan. 6 hearings made up a large portion of the bill. Additionally, the bill also cites former Vice President Mike Pence’s book “So Help Me God” as evidence against Trump.

“Mr. Pence wrote in his book that Mr. Trump told him that ‘[Mr. Pence had] the absolute right to reject electoral votes,’ and told Mr. Pence ‘You can be a historic figure…but if you wimp out, you’re just another somebody,’” the bill stated.

Cicilline, Pence and Trump did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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