Thiessen: Trump can't strike 14th Amendment with his pen
In an interview for “Axios on HBO,” President Trump announced he will sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship. When challenged on the constitutionality of doing this by executive order, Trump replied:
“You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”
This is simply untrue. The 14th Amendment — which declares, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside” — cannot be changed by executive order, or even by an act of Congress. It would require a constitutional amendment.
Not long ago, Trump revoked President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals because, as he correctly pointed out, it was an unconstitutional executive overreach. Now he wants to attempt to change the Constitution by executive order?
Some conservatives justify his proposed action by taking a loose reading of the 14th Amendment, arguing that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” leaves birthright citizenship subject to interpretation. Funny, just a few weeks ago, many of these same conservatives during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings were defending the “originalist” approach to the Constitution, which holds that we should interpret the plain words of the Constitution according to their original public meaning.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/thiessen-trump-cant-strike-14th-amendment-with-his-pen/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=7b8e54f5c1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_01_03_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-7b8e54f5c1-228635337
Marc Thiessen is usually a Trump sycophant. Even he disagrees with Trump on this issue.
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