What is the 14th Amendment and could it be invoked to remove lawmakers?

(ABC4) – While many are calling for President Donald Trump to resign or be impeached – or for the 25th Amendment to be enacted – some Democrats are calling for some Republican lawmakers to be expelled.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined ABC’s “This Week,” suggesting “that more House Democrats were considering invoking the 14th Amendment to expel Republican lawmakers who had participated in efforts to subvert the results of the November election.

“This is not either the 25th Amendment, or impeachment,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding, “We are looking towards multiple avenues, and I do not believe that those avenues are mutually exclusive.”

The 14th Amendement, Section 3 reads,

“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The New York Times reports this clause was originally enacted to limit the influence of former Confederates and has been used occasionally since. In December, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) first proposed invoking the clause as a majority of House Republicans – and Utah’s Attorney General Sean Reyes – signed on Texas’ lawsuit that sought to overturn the election in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ultimately rejected that lawsuit.

Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) tweeted Wednesday afternoon, amid the Capitol riots, saying she “will be introducing a resolution calling for” the expulsion of “the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election.”

“They have broken their sacred Oath of Office,” she continues.

I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office.

I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion. pic.twitter.com/JMTlQ4IfnR

— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) January 6, 2021

The full resolution obtained by The Intercept, a nonprofit news organization, names over 140 members of Congress. That includes Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama and Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley – the senator who first said he would raise objections to Biden’s victory in the election.

While no other Representatives or Senators are named, Utah Representatives Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart joined the group of House members that planned to oppose the Electoral College count.

A House resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority to remove President Trump from office was blocked Monday by Republicans.