Donald Trump Could Be Ousted Even If He Wins Election Under SCOTUS Ruling

Donald Trump could potentially be removed from the White House even if the Supreme Court rules he's eligible for a second term under the Constitution's 14th Amendment, according to one legal expert.

The former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner is facing several legal challenges from those who believe he is prohibited from serving again due to Section 3 of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which deals with insurrection. Trump has been removed from primary ballots in Colorado and Maine on this basis, though his team has now approached the Supreme Court to appeal the ruling.

Newsweek has reached out to representatives of Donald Trump for comment by email.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who, "having previously taken an oath" to defend the Constitution, went on to become involved with "insurrection or rebellion" is unable to hold "any office, civil or military, under the United States."

Trump's critics argue the former president's actions during and related to January 6, 2021, when hundreds of his supporters stormed Congress, amounted to an insurrection, thus making him constitutionally ineligible to serve another term. During Trump's inauguration in January 2017, he took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Some legal analysts have suggested Trump's team could counter Section 3 of the 14th Amendment by pointing to Section 5, which states: "The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." They argue this means it is up to Congress to decide how Section 3 should be applied rather than judges.

One of those making the argument is Jeffrey Clark, a former U.S. Department of Justice assistant attorney general and co-defendant in one of the criminal cases Trump is facing over claims he broke the law allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Both Trump and Clark have pled not guilty to all counts and deny any wrongdoing.

During an appearance on the conservative-leaning One America News Network, Clark said: "There's Section 5 of the 14th Amendment, which gives Congress the power to enforce the rest of the 14th Amendment and it looks like the enforcement mechanism that they chose is a federal criminal statute for insurrection which, of course, President Trump has not been charged with, let alone convicted of."

However, posting on X (formerly Twitter), Los Angeles Times' senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman said this reliance on Congress could see Trump removed from the presidency if the Democrats retake the House of Representatives, whilst holding on to the Senate.

Referring to the Section 5 claim, Litman said: "One huge pitfall to that latter argument that I'm sure the Court will be thinking of: if that's the holding, and the Dems take back the house and Trump wins too, presumably, they could oust him, [especially] since [Section 3] says can't hold office."

Litman suggested the conservative-majority Supreme Court could rule Trump must be on the ballot in all 50 states by concluding the presidency isn't an "office" as set out in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, but described this argument as "rather tortured."

He said the dispute over Trump's eligibility to run again deals with "some hugely complicated issues" with "little precedent" for the courts to use in their decisions.