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14th Amendment doesn't ban felons from taking office | Fact check
The claim: The Constitution ‘clearly states that a felon cannot take elective office’
An Oct. 17 Threads post (direct link, archive link) claims former President Donald Trump would be ineligible to assume office if he’s re-elected in November.
“OK, section 3 of the 14th Amendment clearly states that a felon cannot take elective office – even if that candidate is the winner of the election,” the post reads. "So, even if trump (sic) wins, he cannot become president. Is that incorrect?”
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Our rating: False
Neither the 14th Amendment nor any other part of the Constitution bans felons from taking office, an expert told USA TODAY. The section referenced in the post prohibits anyone who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and "engaged in insurrection" from taking office, but a Supreme Court decision in March requires Congress to act in order for it to be enforced.
Congress tasked with enforcing anti-insurrectionist provision
Trump was found guilty in May of all 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Judge Juan Merchan later delayed Trump's sentencing until after the presidential election.
But Trump's convictions wouldn’t prevent him from assuming office if he wins re-election.
“There is no bar in the Constitution on felons serving as president,” said David Cole, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
The section referenced in the Threads post does ban people from taking office if they have participated in certain actions. Here’s section three in full:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
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The Supreme Court in March overturned a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that allowed Trump to be removed from the state’s primary ballots under the provision for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Supreme Court said states do not have the authority to disqualify candidates for federal office based on the provision.
Granting states such a power could enable a “chaotic state-by-state patchwork, at odds with our nation’s federalism principles,” justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a concurring opinion.
Rather, "Congress must decide how to enforce" the provision, Columbia University law professor Philip Bobbitt told USA TODAY.
The ruling cites section five of the 14th Amendment in saying Congress has the "power to enforce" it through "appropriate legislation," but Bobbitt said it has taken no such action since the case was decided.
"So the prospects of barring President Trump now, on the basis of the 14th Amendment, I would say are zero," Bobbitt said.
It would not be unprecedented for a politician to serve in office as a convicted felon.
Former Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, for example, was found guilty of seven felony charges of making false statements in financial disclosure forms in 2008. Stevens lost his re-election bid that November but remained in office until January 2009.
A federal judge threw out the case later that year after a whistleblower reported prosecutorial misconduct, as the Anchorage Daily News reported.
More recently, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted of 16 felony counts, including wire fraud, bribery and obstruction of justice on July 16. Menendez sent a resignation letter to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy the following week that said his last day in office would be Aug. 20.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to Trump’s hush money trial, including false assertions that Trump’s convictions were overturned as of Oct. 10, that he faces up to 187 years in prison and that the jury did not need a unanimous verdict to convict him.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
FactCheck.org previously debunked a version of the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Philip Bobbitt, Oct. 24, Phone call with USA TODAY
David Cole, Oct. 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Congress.gov, accessed Oct. 23, Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Trump's felonies wouldn't stop him from taking office | Fact check