# What is the minimum offense to prohibit one from holding US office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 22, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204 "2022-01-22T00:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 4
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/4 "2022-01-22T07:36:07Z")
Insurrectionists cannot be a member of Congress. The 14th Amendment, Section 3 states: > [@14th Amendment Section 3 as quoted in New York Times](#): > > “No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … 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.” A movement is afoot to challenge Madison Cawthorn from running for re-election because of this. They hope to expand the movement to challenge all the other members of Congress who participated in the insurrection. The challenges for them will be (a) defining exactly what behaviors constitute insurrection for purposes of this, and then (b) figuring out just what degree of proof is needed to nix a candidate, and then (c) proving that. In the case of North Carolina, it apparently doesn’t necessarily take a conviction of insurrection in a court of law to deep-six a candidate. According to the NYT article, it requires the challenger to establish some sort of significant suspicion, at which point the burden of proof shifts to the candidate to show that he did not engage in insurrection. > **[Opinion | Will Madison Cawthorn Be Brought Down by ‘Insurrection’? (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/opinion/14th-amendment-madison-cawthorn.html)** > > Why a section of the 14th Amendment could offer a challenge to some Republicans running for the House this year. > [@](#): > > Under North Carolina law, once challengers advance enough evidence to show reasonable suspicion that a candidate is not qualified, the burden shifts to the would-be candidate to demonstrate the contrary. * * * ETA: If you find the above NYT article paywalled, you can also find a summary of it at Raw Story: > **['No joke': Legal expert warns Madison Cawthorn 'being too quick to scoff' at...](https://www.rawstory.com/madison-cawthorn-insurrection-2656447615/)** > > Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has brushed off a legal challenge to his eligibility to run for re-election, but one expert cautioned the lawmaker not to dismiss the complaint so easily.Voters in North Carolina challenged Cawthorn's candidacy based on a... --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204)._