Although many have mixed feelings about the events of Jan. 6, it is important to always honor what the Constitution says. For several reasons, it is unconstitutional to prevent candidates from running simply because they were involved in the events of Jan. 6.

From The Daily Signal. No matter what one may think about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, efforts now underway to block certain members of Congress from running for reelection are without merit….

View Comments (5)

It is noteworthy that not a single protester arrested for criminal trespass, assaulting police officers, and other actions at the Capitol has been charged under 18 U.S.C. Section 2383, which makes it a crime to engage in “any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States.” Additionally, no member of Congress has been arrested, charged, or indicted for any actions taken on Jan. 6.

Yet the challengers are claiming that these members of Congress are disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868. Section 3 was aimed at the former Confederacy and said no one could be a member of Congress or hold any federal office who had previously held such a position if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”

But Section 3 also had a unique provision not found in any other amendment to the Constitution. It gave Congress the power “by a vote of two-thirds of each House” to remove this disqualification.

Congress did exactly that in two amnesty bills: one in 1872 that kept a limited number of disqualifications for certain members of Congress and the military, and a second in 1898 that got rid of those remaining disqualifications. The plain language of these acts permanently removed the insurrection disqualification in Section 3 from the 14th Amendment….

Finally, attempts to disqualify candidates because they objected to the certification of certain electoral votes in the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 have no legal merit. The objections and the subsequent votes on the objections were done in full compliance with the process outlined in the Electoral Count Act of 1887….

The effort to have members of Congress barred from having their names on ballots based on claims that they participated in an insurrection on Jan. 6 or objected to electoral votes should fail….

All of these efforts and threats are a desperate attempt to gain political advantage through unconstitutional actions….

What do you think of this article? Share your prayers for our leaders as they navigate difficult questions like these in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Daily Signal. Photo Credit: Getty Images)