Republicans Weigh Using 14th Amendment to Ban Mamdani From Office

New York City — As New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday in a mayoral race poised to crown Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as the city’s next leader, a cadre of House Republicans is plotting a constitutional Hail Mary: invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment—the post-Civil War “insurrection clause”—to disqualify him from ever taking the oath. The audacious scheme, spearheaded by the New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) and gaining traction among GOP lawmakers, accuses the 34-year-old assemblyman of “giving aid and comfort to America’s enemies” through his fiery anti-ICE activism and leftist ties. With Mamdani leading polls by double digits over rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, the move reeks of desperation—or, to critics, McCarthyite payback in a blue city that hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1993.

The controversy erupted Monday when the NYYRC fired off a memo to Congress, demanding enforcement of the amendment’s rarely wielded provision, ratified in 1868 to bar ex-Confederates from office. “Zohran Mamdani’s words and actions—calling to ‘resist ICE’ and cozying up to anti-American radicals—make him ineligible,” thundered NYYRC President Stefano Forte in the seven-page screed, which cites Mamdani’s 2018 naturalization oath as grounds for revocation. “He’s an insurrectionist in socialist clothing, and the Constitution demands we act.” Forte, whose club boasts alumni like Rudy Giuliani, framed it as a “common-sense firewall” against “enemies within,” but the timing—mere days before the election—has Mamdani’s camp crying foul.

Enter Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), the pugnacious freshman who’s made a cottage industry of immigrant-baiting. On October 28, Ogles penned a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging a DOJ probe into Mamdani’s citizenship path, alleging his “refusal to disavow violent anti-American rhetoric” voids his status under immigration law barring totalitarian sympathies. By Thursday, Ogles escalated on X: “The 14th Amendment may allow Congress the authority to BAN Mamdani from office. I am looking into this.” Two congressional aides told the New York Post that House leaders, eyeing a post-shutdown vote, see Section 3 as a vehicle to declare Mamdani persona non grata—potentially via resolution, though enforcement against a municipal post remains murky.

Mamdani, born in Uganda to Indian parents and naturalized in 2018 after fleeing to New York as a child, shot to prominence as a DSA-backed state assemblyman from Queens, championing rent freezes and defunding the police. His mayoral bid, fueled by a youthquake of TikTok organizers and AOC endorsements, promises “housing for all” and sanctuary-city expansions—policies that terrify Trumpworld. President Trump, a native New Yorker who’s vowed to slash federal aid to “sanctuary” NYC, branded Mamdani a “disaster” on Truth Social last week, claiming his win would “turn the Apple rotten.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott piled on, joking he’d slap a 100% tariff on any “blue-state refugees” fleeing to Austin.

The GOP’s nuclear option draws bitter irony from Democrats, who wielded the same clause against Trump in 2024 primaries—efforts the Supreme Court swatted down, ruling states can’t enforce it on federal candidates but Congress holds the keys. “Weaponizing the 14th against a Black Muslim immigrant for daring to fight ICE? This is nativism on steroids,” Mamdani’s spokesperson shot back to Esquire, vowing lawsuits if Congress meddles. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who never endorsed Mamdani despite arm-twisting, called the ploy “a clown show” on the floor: “Republicans lost NYC decades ago—now they’re begging the Constitution for a recount.”

Legal eagles are skeptical. Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Berkeley dismissed the odds as “longer than a subway delay,” noting Section 3 requires proof of “insurrection”—a bar unmet since the 1870s, when it snared a handful of Copperheads. “Resisting ICE isn’t rebellion; it’s protest,” he told The Mirror US. “This would crater in federal court faster than Mamdani’s poll lead.” Even originalists like Josh Blackman of South Texas College of Law hedge: “Congress could vote, but enforcing on a mayor? That’s uncharted—and unwise.” A Marist poll Friday shows Mamdani at 52% in a three-way race, with 68% of voters viewing the GOP push as “partisan sabotage.”

On X, the firestorm rages. Conservative firebrand Kyle Becker amplified the Post report with 120 likes: “Republicans Weigh Using 14th Amendment to Ban Mamdani From Office—bars insurrectionists.” Replies split: MAGA diehards cheered “Deport the socialist!”; progressives like @AnneRifleOakley fumed, “GOP’s desperate—Ogles’ letter to Bondi is peak hypocrisy.” #BanMamdani trended briefly in red pockets, but #DefendMamdani countered with 10,000 posts, featuring AOC’s viral thread: “They fear us because we fight for the people—not the powerful.”

Mamdani’s backstory adds fuel: A rapper-turned-activist (stage name Mr. Cardamom), he rose railing against “imperialist” borders, once tweeting, “ICE is the real insurrection.” The NYYRC memo cherry-picks such lines, linking them to DSA’s “abolish ICE” plank and alleged ties to “Hamas sympathizers”—claims Mamdani debunks as smears. His campaign, war chest at $12 million, shrugs off the noise: “New Yorkers know a witch hunt when they see one.”

Broader ripples? The gambit spotlights GOP fractures in a shutdown-racked Congress, where Trump’s DOGE cuts have sidelined even routine votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson, mum so far, faces a revolt if he greenlights the resolution—risking filibuster in Schumer’s Senate. For Mamdani, it’s rocket fuel: Early voting surged 15% in Queens, per Board of Elections data.

As polls close at 9 p.m., the Empire State’s fate hangs: Will Mamdani’s “People’s Platform” reboot a creaking city, or ignite a constitutional cage match? Republicans’ 14th Amendment moonshot may fizzle legally, but politically, it’s a Molotov—torching bridges in a town that thrives on tension. In NYC’s eternal scrum, disqualification isn’t just a clause; it’s campaign catnip. Victory for Mamdani? Expect the gavel—and the gavels of federal courts—to fall hard.