The 14th Amendment could be used to prevent Trump from becoming president.
There was renewed interest after Trump said he would run for president.
Legal scholars don't know how the bill could be applied in Trump's case.
In the wake of the Capitol siege on January 6, 2021, some US lawmakers called for former President Donald Trump and some of their congressional colleagues to be removed from office or prevented from holding office again.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he will run for president in 2024, ignoring those on the right who have blamed him for the GOP's disappointing performance in the election.
The 14th amendment could be used to prevent Trump from running again.
The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 and gives citizenship rights to anyone born or naturalized in the US.
The Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford was nullified by the amendment.
One section of the amendment prevents someone from holding office if they've previously made an oath to the constitution to fight against the US.
The goal was to prevent Confederates from being elected to public office after the Civil War. Doron Kalir is a professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
The full text of section 3 of the 14th amendment can be found here.
Legal scholars have differing opinions on whether the amendment can be used in Trump's case and how it would play out.
The text can be applied to the office of the presidency. The presidency is not listed as a position from which a person can be barred.
Kalir told Insider that he was not sure if it applied to the president of the United States.
The section is supposed to apply to senators and offices below that.
The process for removing someone from office is uncertain.
Kalir said that it was not clear who should determine if a person has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.
Congress can bar someone from office if it passes a law with a simple majority in both chambers. After the newly elected members of Congress are instated, the GOP will have a majority in the House.
The House select committee is investigating Trump's role in the Capitol riot, but it is not likely to be renewed in a Republican-controlled House.
Congress can't act as a court of law because of a section of the constitution. Some scholars don't think Congress can use the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from being president. The process would most likely need litigation.
It's possible that Trump could be found guilty in a court of law for inciting the Capitol insurrection.
The 14th Amendment states that Congress has the power to bar Trump from office if it is proven that he engaged in insurrection or rebellion. It's highly unlikely that a bill like this would pass with a divided Congress.
The amendment has been used to bar someone from office once in more than 100 years.
Congress used the 14th Amendment to prevent Victor Berger from joining the House because he was against the US entering World War I.
A special committee decided that Berger was not fit for office. The Senate and the House had a simple majority. Congressional precedent shows that only a simple majority is required.
Congress doesn't allow someone to join its own body.
It's a big legal leap for the US Congress to prevent someone from becoming president other than through impeachment.
There has been no use of this section since Berger's case was not used anymore.
It could be challenged in court and take a long time to play out if it were invoked today.
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