With Senate Republicans hell-bent on acquitting Donald Trump in his historic second impeachment trial, Democrats may still ban the former Republican president from seeking office again by invoking the 14th Amendment, and they are already hinting at the move.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not rule out bringing legislation to bar Trump from office if he isn’t convicted during the Senate trial, Fox News reports.
“We’re first going to finish the impeachment trial, and then Democrats will get together and discuss where we go next,” Schumer said, according to the news outlet.
Trump, who was charged by the House for inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, is the third American president to be impeached and the first to be impeached twice.
In late 2019, Trump was impeached on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The GOP-led Senate acquitted Trump on both charges in February 2020. Prior to Trump, only Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton had been impeached. Both were also acquitted by the Senate.
Democratic senators have discussed in recent weeks if they can’t convict Trump and bar him from holding office in a subsequent simple majority vote, they might invoke the 14th Amendment, which says Congress can bar people who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. from holding office.
