What is the 14th Amendment and what does it say?

Cases in Colorado and other states argue that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prevents Donald J. Trump from becoming president again because, they allege, he incited the supporters who stormed the Capitol nearly three years ago.

The central questions are whether Article 3 applies to the presidency; whether Mr. Trump’s conduct before and on January 6, 2021 amounted to “engaging in an insurrection or rebellion against” the Constitution; and whether election officials or the courts can deem an individual ineligible without specific action by Congress to identify that individual.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the answer to all these questions was yes, but other courts disagreed. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely have the final say.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment says:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an elector of the 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 a state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, in support of the Constitution of the United States, has been engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or aid or comfort given to the enemies thereof. But Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, can remove such a disability.

Constitutional experts have emphasized in interviews with The New York Times that the answers are not simple or self-evident.

In an academic article, conservative law professors William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen concluded: “It is undoubtedly fair to say that Trump was ‘involved in’ the January 6 insurrection, both through his actions and his inaction.”

Others have argued the opposite, as law professors Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman say in a recent concept paper that they saw “no good basis” for the conclusions of Mr Baude and Mr Paulsen.