This week, we'll take a closer look at legislation related to "insurrections". There are currently 194 bills across the nation that have "insurrection", "rebellion", and the "United States" as part of them. Today, we'll take a look at a few of the most read bills across the country.
First, what is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is federal law in the United States that empowers the President to deploy US military and federalized National Guard troops within the United States in particular circumstances. The circumstances outlined are: suppressing civil disorder, an insurrection, or a rebellion. The President must first publish a "proclamation" ordering any insurgents to disperse before they are allowed to invoke the powers under the Act, 10 U.S.C. § 254.
For more information, read this comprehensive overview from when Trump announced he planed to use the US military to stop the riots across the nation sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other people of color. This was about six months before the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021.
Federal Insurrection Legislation
US S3902: Curtailing Insurrection act Violations of Individuals' Liberties (CIVIL) Act
This failed 2020 bill contains an amendment to the Insurrection Act.
The bill states:
AUTHORITY. Whenever there is an insurrection in any State against its government, the President may, upon the request of the governor of the State concerned, call into Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number requested by the governor of the State concerned, and use such of the armed forces, as the President considers necessary to suppress the insurrection.
CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS. The President may not invoke the authority under this section unless the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General certify to Congress that the governor of the State concerned has requested the aid
The amendment would have created an expedited procedure for judicial review of invocation of the Insurrection Act. It would also sunset the invocation automatically after 14 days if not approved by Congress. Additionally, it defines the circumstances in which the President may use the Insurrection Act, blocking them from possibly using their powers to infringe on the rights of the people.
US HR1405: Remove and bar from holding office certain individuals who engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States
This bill's intended purpose is to "provide a cause of action to remove and bar from holding office certain individuals who engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, and for other purposes." This bill builds off Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Section Three, Disqualification and Public Debt, 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."
There has been much debate on whether or not Section Three requires the enabling of the statute on default, aka if it is enforceable on its own, or if it is simply left up to Congress to choose whether or not they would like to enforce it.
HR1405 seeks to clarify some of these questions, especially in relation to the Insurrection on the US Capitol on January 6th 2021. It was introduced the end of February in 2021, and currently sits in Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. First, the bill defines “insurrection and rebellion” as “(A) any violent act, or act supported by a threat of violence, intended to impede any constitutional function of the United States; and (B) any attempt or conspiracy to commit, or incitement of, an act described in subparagraph (A).” Second, the bill makes clear that it applies to those who engaged in insurrection or rebellion prior to the date of enactment of the Act, aka the January 6th insurrection, who then sought to hold public office. Third, it states the U.S. attorney general would enforce Section Three against individuals convicted by a court panel of three judges of the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia.
US HRes25: Ethics committee investigation on the 2020 Presidential election
This proposed legislation (currently sitting in the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties) directs the Committee on Ethics to investigate and issue a report on whether any and all actions taken by Members of the 117th Congress who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their oath of office to uphold the Constitution or the Rules of the House of Representatives. It also asks them to look into whether or not they should face sanction, including removal from the House of Representatives. Although this bill is currently in committee, there is currently a select House committee tasked with investigating what happened on January 6th at the US Capitol. They have had five hearings so far and have more scheduled in the future.
Trump Specific Legislation
US HRes24: Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
US HRes24 impeaches President Donald John Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors. It is the second Impeachment Article passed by the House during Trump’s four-year term. For a blog about this legislation, read this post.
The Resolution states the following. First, that prior to the joint session of Congress held on January 6, 2021, to count the votes of the electoral college, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by state or federal officials. Shortly before the joint session commenced, President Trump then reiterated false claims to a crowd at a Trump rally near the White House and willfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol.
The House voted 232-197 in favor, with ten Republicans supporting US HRes24. This blog includes a fun "How the Votes Went Down" section where I used BillTrack50’s awesome interactive scorecard tool to make a scorecard showing how the votes were cast – feel free to explore it here.
US HCRes3: Censuring President Donald J. Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election through unlawful means and for inciting insurrection.
This resolution, which has been in committee since March of 2021, censures President Donald J. Trump for actions described in this resolution, including attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election and inciting insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Proposed five days after the insurrection, the resolution calls upon President Trump to acknowledge that President-elect Joseph R. Biden was the victor of the election and that President-elect Biden will be the lawful President on January 20, 2021. The resolution also asks Trump to call on his supporters not to engage in violence and to disavow the actions of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol.
The Resolution also finds that, in engaging in the previously cited actions, President Trump "as an officer of the United States ... engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [United States], or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," and that because of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, he is now ineligible for future office, unless each chamber of Congress removes this limitation by a two-thirds vote.
US HRes44: Directing the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into President Donald J. Trump for his involvement in and incitement of the violent attacks at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
This bill was proposed a week after the events at the Capitol in 2021 and in March 2021, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The bill has a couple interesting excerpts including:
Whereas President Trump held a rally on January 6, 2021, during which he encouraged the crowd to storm the United States Capitol, resulting in a violent uprising against the authority of the United States.
Whereas in his address to the crowd that led to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, President Trump stated, Were gathered together in the heart of our Nation's Capital for very, very basic and simple reason: to save our democracy . . . you have to get your people to fight . . . if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore . . . so were going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and were going to the Capitol
The bill ends with "Whereas no citizen of the United States is above the law, even the President of the United States or a former President of the United States."
Some State Insurrection Legislation
AZ HR2006: Mark Finchem; expulsion
This failed legislation aimed to expel Representative Mark Finchem from the House of Representatives for his conduct related to the insurrection. A few excerpts from the bill:
- Representative Finchem has failed to denounce these domestic enemies, and further, has sought to conceal the consequences of his actions by promoting a baseless conspiracy blaming leftists that has been disproven by federal law enforcement agencies, further gaslighting the public
- Representative Finchem has a documented history of pushing conspiracies that blame the left for violence by white nationalists, including deflecting blame for neo-Nazi violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that resulted in one death and several injuries
- Representative Finchem participated in, advocated for and solicited others to join the march on the United States Capitol that disrupted the certification of the Electoral College vote, threatened the democratic process and placed elected officials, staff and law enforcement officers at risk
It also states that "the Members of the House of Representatives find Representative Mark Finchem's conduct to be dishonorable and unbecoming of a Member of the House of Representatives."
NH HB1007: Relative to qualifications for office.
Proposed New Hampshire legislation would prohibit those who participate in an insurrection or rebellion to not be qualified to hold office. The bill states: As provided in Article 14, section 3, of the United States constitution, a person who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or who gave aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, shall be ineligible to hold elective office in the state, unless Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, shall have removed such disability. For the purposes of this subparagraph, "insurrection or rebellion" shall include any action intended to separate New Hampshire from the United States, and "aid or comfort" shall include any action facilitating such intent.
With the hearings over the last month, we have seen a lot of traffic to these types of bills and have had "insurrection" searched more than almost any time in the past. It is clear people are interested in these developments and what is happening legislatively.
Cover Photo by little plant on Unsplash
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