That’s the short title. I should properly call this, “The End of Donald Trump’s Political Career”, because that’s the question facing us. How do we end Donald Trump’s political career?
This week, the Incapable Court in Florida (technically, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida), announced that Donald Trump’s trial there was taken off the calendar indefinitely. As I’ve noted before, the case in the District of Columbia is on hold due to SCOTUS malfeasance. And we also learned that the case in Fulton County, Georgia, may be delayed while an appeals court hears charges that D.A. Fani Willis should have been removed from the case because the defendants didn’t like her sleeping with Nathan Wade, one of the attorneys prosecuting them.
It was never wise to think that justice would stop Donald Trump, but unless he’s convicted in New York and swiftly put away there—a very unlikely outcome just because he would appeal any conviction—he may still be out on bond as of Inauguration Day, 2025.
I won’t rehash why this is dangerous to the country and the world, because I don’t want to insult your intelligence or suggest woeful ignorance. Let’s just stipulate that danger and get on to the question at hand.
I think we have the tools to end Donald Trump’s political career. By “we”, I mean officials in the Democratic Party, specifically members of the House and Senate.
Donald Trump is not eligible to be President. He was part of an insurrection, and he gave aid and comfort to an insurrection. Under the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, he cannot serve as President. That part is just fact.
How do our elected officials enforce that fact?
Strangely, SCOTUS gave us the answer in Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson (Case No. 23-719). They noted that the Colorado Supreme Court had held that, because Donald Trump is ineligible to serve as President, the secretary of state could not put his name on the primary ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, saying:
Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 [of the Fourteenth Amendment] against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.
I’m going to skip over the fact that there’s no proof anywhere in the real world that only Congress is responsible for enforcing this provision—since it’s been enforced by others before and there’s nothing in the text of the amendment that suggests this—and just pretend that I agree.
So, that’s exactly what Congress needs to do. It needs to decide that Donald Trump cannot take office, regardless of whether he wins the Electoral College or not, because he’s ineligible.
Hey, Congress! Bow to reality, for once!
I’m going to detail here exactly how Congress should handle this. I’m not in any way qualified to say, so I’m going to put this in the form of a petition to Congress. But for clarity, I’m going to present the resolutions and bills I think should be used. This will make my proposal clear to the public, and it could act as a framework for staff members in the House and Senate to put together proper documents to file. I expect them to use their expertise.
My proposal is:
Congress should reaffirm the findings of the courts, including the finding that Donald Trump is not eligible. It should then act on the prescription of the SCOTUS to “enforce Section 3”. That is, it should provide that because Congress agrees with the courts that Donald Trump is ineligible, he cannot take office unless Congress restores his eligibility.
And Congress should stipulate his disability can ONLY be removed if he is fully acquitted of charges in both the federal D.C. and Florida cases. By juries.
That is, if Donald Trump is acquitted by juries of each and every charge in the two cases brought by the DOJ, then he can petition Congress to have his eligibility restored, and Congress will debate and vote on that in each chamber.
Weirdly, “Speaker” Mike Johnson appears to be helping us. He complained that all these court cases should go away because they were intended to keep Donald Trump off the campaign trail.
“It has to stop. And you’re gonna see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can because we need accountability,” Johnson explained.
[MSN, Mike Johnson vows to use Congress to save Trump from criminal trials by Rey Harris, recently]
Johnson went on to say, “It’s about the people’s faith in our system of justice. And we’re gonna get down to the bottom of it…All these cases need to be dropped because they are a threat to our system.”
I would say that the failure to get a verdict is the real threat to our system.
Also, Johnson, Speaker or no, is completely powerless to get Congress to address this in “every possible way”. I have a way to address it, and I literally have more power to get that to happen than Johnson has to get the court cases to go away.
Where I agree is that “the United States Congress [should] address this”. And the way to address it is to bring to a vote the question: Is Donald Trump eligible to be President or not?
I say no. Republicans say yes. Let’s have a vote.
This should start with a resolution in the House. That resolution should say that the House will take a vote on this associated bill immediately:
Resolved by the House of Representatives:
The following bill will be considered without delay. Four hours of floor time will be allocated for consideration of the bill, split into two hours for any Representative to speak for the bill and two hours for any Representative to speak in opposition to the bill. At the conclusion of debate, the bill will be read and put to the House for a vote, and will be passed on receiving a majority of votes for the bill.
Bill:
Whereas, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace in the State of Colorado found that former President Donald J. Trump engaged in insurrection during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and,
Whereas, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States holds that:
No person shall...hold any office, civil or military, under the United States,...who, having previously taken an oath...as an officer of the United States...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.*and,
Whereas, the President of the United States holds a civil and a military office under the United States and must, upon inauguration, take an oath that requires that person to support the Constitution, and,
Whereas, Donald J. Trump took this oath and held the office of President of the United States, and then subsequently engaged in insurrection against the Constitution of the United States,
Therefore,
Donald J. Trump is ineligible to again hold the office of the President of the United States, cannot be elected to such office, and shall not hold such office or any other office of profit or trust in the federal government of the United States.
And, whereas, Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability, it is the will of Congress that Donald J. Trump may apply to Congress for removal of such disability before October 15, 2024, for the term of office commencing in January 2025, provided that he has been acquitted by juries of all charges in the two currently pending federal cases against him before that time.
A companion resolution should be introduced in the Senate:
Resolved by the Senate:
The following bill will be considered without delay. Four hours of floor time will be allocated for consideration of the bill, split into two hours for any Senator to speak for the bill and two hours for any Senator to speak in opposition to the bill. At the conclusion of debate, the bill will be read and put to the Senate for a vote, and will be passed on receiving a majority of votes for the bill.
Bill:
(The House bill, exactly as passed by the House of Representatives.)
You will note that the recommended Senate resolution specifies passage by a simple majority vote. This resolution supersedes Senate rules about debate and how many votes are required to pass a bill. The Senate has the power to set any rule for any bill at any time, because the default rule for passage in any public body is rule of the majority.
A Senator may object. The President of the Senate, acting as chair (presumably the Vice President of the United States) should rule that the debate and vote will go forward under the resolution as proposed. The opposition may appeal the ruling of the chair, but rulings of the chair are confirmed, per Senate rules, by a majority.
Also, for clarity, the two federal cases pending against Ex are:
Case 1: 23-cr-00257-TSC in United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- Count 1: 18 USC § 371 Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.
- Count 2: 18 USC § 1512(k) Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding.
- Count 3: 18 USC § 1512(c)(2),2 Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding.
- Count 4: 18 USC § 241 Conspiracy Against Rights.
Case 2: 23-cr-80101-AMC in United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Forty counts for violations of the following statutes:
- 18 U.S.C. § 793(e)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1512(k)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(1)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1519
- 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2)
- 18 U.S.C. § 2
This proposal would allow him to apply to congress for removal of his disability provided that he was acquitted of each charge on each of these two cases by the juries hearing those cases. In other words, each of twelve jurors on each case would have to vote for acquittal on each charge, (four charges on case 1 and 40 charges on case 2).
This should make it abundantly clear to the public exactly what he is accused of and whether he was found guilty or innocent on each of those things.
This should, in Johnson’s words, restore “the people’s faith in our system of justice”. And, incidentally, the political system.
Could this bill pass the House? I think there’s a chance it could pass because there may be one or two Republicans who would vote for it. There’s quite an alluring possibility. They could rid their party of this big sex pest with just this vote. He’s the biggest reasons for Republican defeats. So, enlightened self-interest might get a few to come around.
Or not. If not, it’s a great campaign issue.
So, my petition to Congress is this: Pass these resolutions and their embedded bills. Declare that Donald J. Trump is barred from federal office. No, he can’t be President. He blew it when he participated in an insurrection. The Constitution bars him from office, and Congress concurs.
And I’d like you, my treasured readers, to petition your Senators and Representatives to pass these resolutions and make it clear: Donald Trump’s political career—as far as federal office—is over.
Will Congress rule on whether Donald Trump is eligible to run for President? I don’t think that’s where the power of this proposal will matter. Because if this plan is diligently pursued, it will put additional pressure on every Republican running for office. Either they support someone literally unqualified for President or they don’t.
Supporting an insurrection is an act of treason. If they are supporting a traitor, what does that say about their qualifications to hold office? I want that put to each of them in this election cycle. Are they on the side of Donald Trump? Or are they on the side of democracy and the rule of law?
Just posing that question to Republican candidates should help defeat Republicans running for Congress and any lower office.
