Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., plans to introduce a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would require every member of Congress, every federal judge, and every Senate-confirmed appointee to be a natural-born U.S. citizen. The measure, first reported by Fox News Digital, takes direct aim at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., but its reach extends far beyond a single Squad member.
The Constitution already bars anyone who is not a natural-born citizen from the presidency and vice presidency. Mace's proposal would extend that same restriction across the upper tiers of the federal government, closing what she calls a long-overdue gap.
The political backdrop is hard to miss. Omar's path to U.S. citizenship has drawn intensified Republican scrutiny in recent months. Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Omar is under investigation by the Department of Justice for possible immigration fraud. Some Republicans have called for her deportation over the alleged offense. Mace's amendment lands squarely in that current.
Mace did not mince words in comments to Fox News Digital:
"Ilhan Omar is just one of many foreign-born members of this government who have made clear, time and again, their loyalty is not here."
Omar was born in Somalia and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. She has served in Congress since 2019. Mace framed the amendment in broader terms as well, telling Fox News Digital:
"For too long we have allowed foreign-born members to hold seats in this government, while making clear their loyalty is not here. We see it every day."
That language sweeps in a lot of people, and not all of them sit on the Democratic side of the aisle.
There are 19 foreign-born members of Congress. More than a dozen are naturalized citizens, and several are Republicans. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, a Trump ally who was born in Colombia and became a citizen at 18, would be ineligible under the proposal. So would Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who immigrated from Mexico. Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., who came from South Korea. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., who arrived from Ukraine.
On the Democratic side, the list includes Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.
The amendment would also have retroactive implications for past administrations. Elaine Chao, who served as Transportation Secretary under President Trump and is the wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would have been ineligible for that Cabinet post. Alejandro Mayorkas, former President Joe Biden's Homeland Security secretary, would likewise have been barred.
Whatever the political merits, the math is daunting. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate before ratification by three-fourths of the states. The alternative route, a constitutional convention requested by two-thirds of state legislatures, has never been used successfully in American history.
That makes this proposal far more likely to serve as a political statement than a practical change to the law. Mace, who is running to be South Carolina's next governor, clearly sees value in the statement itself.
"The American people deserve leaders who put America first. This amendment closes a gap in our Constitution long overdue for closing."
The country has nearly 25 million naturalized citizens. Mace's framing, that foreign-born officeholders have "made clear their loyalty is not here", paints with a broad brush that covers loyal Republican allies as readily as progressive critics.
Strip away the constitutional amendment packaging and the core of this effort is a political offensive against Ilhan Omar, timed to the DOJ investigation Vance disclosed. That investigation, it should be noted, remains an official claim from the vice president; no court filings, charges, or detailed documentation have been made public. Omar's office has not responded publicly to the latest round of allegations.
There is a legitimate debate to be had about whether lawmakers who obtained citizenship under questionable circumstances should continue to serve. If the DOJ investigation into Omar produces charges, that debate will sharpen considerably.
But a constitutional amendment barring all naturalized citizens from Congress, the federal bench, and every Senate-confirmed post is a different proposition entirely. It would disqualify Americans who followed every rule, took the oath, and earned their citizenship the hard way. It would sideline sitting Republican members who have been reliable conservative votes. And it would rewrite a feature of American governance that has existed since the founding, the Constitution's framers, many of them immigrants themselves, deliberately chose not to impose a natural-born requirement on Congress.
Mace's frustration with Omar is shared by millions of conservative voters. The congresswoman from Minnesota has a long record of statements that have infuriated the right, and the fraud allegations, if substantiated, would be serious. Holding individual officeholders accountable for specific misconduct is fair game and ought to be pursued aggressively.
Rewriting the Constitution to lock out an entire class of citizens who played by the rules is something else. It punishes the many for the alleged sins of the few, and it hands the left a gift-wrapped argument that the right's immigration stance is about identity rather than law.
Conservatives who believe in lawful immigration, and the millions of naturalized citizens who came here legally, assimilated, and love this country, deserve a policy framework that distinguishes between those who honored the process and those who allegedly cheated it. A constitutional sledgehammer does not make that distinction.
If the case against Omar is as strong as Republicans believe, make it. Investigate, charge, and let the legal system work. That is accountability. An amendment that would bar Bernie Moreno and Elaine Chao from public service to get at Ilhan Omar is not accountability, it is friendly fire dressed up as principle.
