I’m saying it now with hopes that it sinks in: Donald Trump cannot take any oath of office until he is granted amnesty for breaking the last one he swore. That’s just straight up in the Constitution. 2/3 of each House. That’s the bar.

This is an unprecedented situation, but the 14th Amendment is clear: Congress can clear the disability to hold office by someone who has committed insurrection or rebellion by a 2/3 vote of each House. Donald Trump had Congressional majorities agree that he incited an insurrection. It counts!

For the first time ever in January 2021, the House impeached a president twice. He was charged with inciting an insurrection. Sen. Rand Paul argued that it was unconstitutional to hold the trial as impeachment is about removal, but the House asked for disqualification from future office.

Sen. Paul’s motion to dismiss the disqualification from future office was dismissed by the Senate, 55-45. The trial then took place, and while it did not meet the threshold for conviction, an unambiguous, bipartisan majority for the first time ever, agreed that Trump incited an insurrection.

Further, the votes against his conviction never argued his innocence. Republican senators instead rationalized that impeachment is for removal, and so Trump being gone negated its purpose. But they forgot about the 14th Am. And why would they remember? It had been 150 years since it mattered.

But with the (fucking bullshit) ruling in Trump v Anderson that Congress needs to act to prevent insurrectionists from appearing on the ballot, everyone assumed that the 14th Am was dead letter. Maybe for voting. But not for the oath itself. Trump has not been cleared from the last time he broke it.

Until he is cleared by a vote of 2/3 of the House and Senate, he is ineligible to wield the powers of the presidency, even if he was elected to do so. His orders have no authority; his actions are not sanctified. He is not a legitimate president because he cannot take the oath of office.

Instead, JD Vance should be assumed to be the President-Elect until Trump is cleared to take the oath. Vance is not ineligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment and requires no vote of 2/3 of Congress to swear his oath. His orders will be legitimate. He’s the choice of voters. He can be POTUS.