Overview
- Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a joint resolution on May 20 to begin the process of amending the U.S. Constitution so members of Congress, federal judges and Senate-confirmed officers must be natural-born citizens.
- Mace has publicly named Reps. Ilhan Omar, Shri Thanedar and Pramila Jayapal and said she would be "fine" making the measure retroactive so it could affect sitting lawmakers she says lack loyalty to the United States.
- She expanded the push to her home state by calling for South Carolina rules that would bar foreign-born candidates from serving as governor, lieutenant governor, state legislators and judges.
- The proposal faces high legal and practical bars because a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval in both House and Senate and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures, and retroactive removal would likely trigger extensive litigation.
- Targeted Democrats dismissed or condemned the effort as unlikely to succeed and as xenophobic, and coverage of the push has broken along partisan lines while civil-rights groups raise concerns about its motives and effects.