What Is Section 3? Obscure 14th Amendment Provision Would Block Future Trump Run

Former President Trump would find himself barred from ever running for office again under an obscure clause in the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, should it be pursued by Congress.

Speaking in the Senate chamber on Friday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said confirming President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees, passing another round of stimulus checks, and tackling Trump's impeachment were top priorities.

“There will be a vote whether to convict the president,” Schumer said. “I have spoken to [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, who informed me that the articles [of impeachment] will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.”

Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives during his final days in office for inciting unrest at the federal Capitol on Jan. 6, becoming the first president ever to be impeached twice. Before he left the White House, lawmakers said they would work to ensure Trump could never run for office again.

As noted by CBS News, that ban would come as a result of Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment, one of the pivotal reforms to the Constitution passed after the Civil War in the 1860s. No person, the clause reads, shall hold any office, civilian or military, if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country.

The clause, reports The Heritage Foundation, was meant to disqualify former rebels from holding office. Some members of the post-war Congress said it was vindictive, while supporters sought to limit President Andrew Johnson from providing pardons to Southern successionists.

A two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives can override that limitation, but since Democrats control the lower chamber, that threshold is unlikely to go in Trump’s favor.

Pelosi, in a Jan. 10 letter to Democrats, said that "views on the 25th Amendment, 14th Amendment Section 3 and impeachment are valued as we continue."

The 25th Amendment would remove the president from office if he were deemed unfit to serve as the executive.

Any legal defense from the former president would likely emerge in mid-February. According to the Associated Press, Rep. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., assisted Trump in securing attorney Butch Bowers to help in his defense.

As a private citizen, Trump is at a disadvantage because he lacks the full resources of the commander in chief.