Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, written after the Civil War to keep former Confederates out of government, bars anyone who swore an oath to the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" from holding federal or state office.
The clause sat mostly dormant for over a century until December 2023, when Colorado's Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump was disqualified from the state's presidential ballot for his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision unanimously on March 4, 2024, in Trump v. Anderson, holding that states cannot enforce Section 3 against federal candidates—only Congress can.
The ruling left the disqualification clause intact but put its enforcement squarely in Congress's hands, meaning a simple state court challenge cannot keep a federal candidate off the ballot. Congress can lift the disqualification with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, as it did for most former Confederates in the Amnesty Act of 1872.
Section 3 determines whether the people who try to overthrow an election can still hold federal office afterward. Trump v. Anderson moved the answer from state courts to Congress, meaning disqualification now depends on whether Congress (not judges or voters) is willing to enforce the constitutional bar.
People often think any court can disqualify an insurrectionist from the ballot. After Trump v. Anderson (2024), states cannot enforce Section 3 against federal candidates. Only Congress can — and Congress can lift the bar with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, as it did for most former Confederates in 1872.
Section 3 determines whether the people who try to overthrow an election can still hold federal office afterward. Trump v. Anderson moved the answer from state courts to Congress, meaning disqualification now depends on whether Congress (not judges or voters) is willing to enforce the constitutional bar.
People often think any court can disqualify an insurrectionist from the ballot. After Trump v. Anderson (2024), states cannot enforce Section 3 against federal candidates. Only Congress can — and Congress can lift the bar with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, as it did for most former Confederates in 1872.