The Constitution's disqualification clause and how it's being used to try to prevent Trump from running for president

Washington — Amid the legal troubles former President Donald Trump is facing in federal and state courts, efforts to keep him off the primary and general election ballots under a little-known provision of the Constitution are gaining traction in several states. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The legal actions invoke what is known as the disqualification clause, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and the provision has now been cited in two lawsuits brought by voters in Colorado and Minnesota who argue Trump is constitutionally ineligible to hold federal office because of his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The suits aimed at the former president set up what are sure to be closely watched legal battles that will test the reach and force of a constitutional provision enacted in the wake of the Civil War, and the outcomes could upend the Republican primary if Trump, currently the leading candidate for the GOP nomination, is found to be ineligible to seek the White House for a third time.