Bruce Ackerman and Gerard Magliocca write:

Donald Trump is already signaling that he will run for president in 2024. A Biden-Trump rematch risks worsening our country’s already deep divisions. But there’s more to be worried about: The next election will provoke a genuine constitutional crisis, unless decisive steps are taken soon to prevent it.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — the Disqualification Clause — expressly bars any person from holding “any office, civil or military, under the United States” if he “engaged in insurrection” against the Constitution after previously swearing to uphold it “as an officer of the United States.” These terms definitely apply to Trump, and some Democrats are exploring the use of Section 3 against him.

The text is framed in exceptionally broad terms — prohibiting service in any of the states as well as the federal government. It does permit a candidate for future office to escape disqualification — but only by obtaining “a vote of two-thirds of each House.” These congressional supermajorities, however, are obviously beyond Trump’s grasp. Which means, once he announces his presidential campaign, it won’t be possible for him to avoid a confrontation with the 14th Amendment. Before he can run for the Republican nomination in the primaries, he must convince each state’s election authorities that Section 3 doesn’t bar him from the White House.

A lawsuit filed in January in North Carolina provides a model for future proceedings against Trump. [Continue reading…]

Vice News reports:

Former President Donald Trump may be the most prolific fundraiser in the GOP, but his cash vacuum isn’t doing much for the candidates he’s endorsed for 2022.

Many of the GOP candidates Trump is backing in open-seat races are struggling to raise significant funds as well against better-funded opponents—and every single one of the GOP candidates Trump has endorsed against a GOP incumbent is getting crushed in fundraising, according to newly released campaign finance reports.

In spite of winning an early Trump endorsement in his Senate campaign, Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks raised less than $400,000 from October through December and has less than $2 million in the bank for his struggling campaign. This may explain why he parted ways with his former campaign manager in November. [Continue reading…]