Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., plans to introduce a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would require members of Congress, federal judges, and all Senate-confirmed appointees to be natural-born U.S. citizens, a sweeping change that would disqualify more than a dozen sitting lawmakers and reshape eligibility for much of the federal government.
The proposal, which Mace intends to file Wednesday, takes direct aim at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., but its reach extends far beyond a single progressive Democrat. If ratified, the amendment would also bar several Republican members of Congress from holding their seats, along with any naturalized citizen nominated to a Cabinet post or a federal judgeship.
The move comes one day after Vice President JD Vance said Omar is under investigation by the Department of Justice for possible immigration fraud, an allegation that has prompted some Republicans to call for her deportation. Mace's proposal would go further than any deportation debate by writing a permanent citizenship requirement into the Constitution itself.
The U.S. Constitution already bars anyone who is not a natural-born citizen from serving as president or vice president. Mace's resolution would extend that same restriction to every member of the House and Senate, every federal judge, and every official who requires Senate confirmation.
That is a significant expansion. The country has nearly 25 million naturalized citizens. Nineteen foreign-born members currently serve in Congress, though some qualify as natural-born citizens because at least one parent held U.S. citizenship at the time of their birth.
Amending the Constitution is deliberately difficult. The process requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress, followed by ratification from three-fourths of U.S. state legislatures. An alternative path, a constitutional convention requested by two-thirds of state legislatures, has never been used successfully.
In other words, the proposal faces enormous procedural hurdles even before the political debate begins.
Mace singled out Omar in a statement provided 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 been a frequent target of Republican criticism throughout her congressional tenure, and the DOJ investigation Vance disclosed adds new legal exposure to her political difficulties.
But the amendment's language is not tailored to one lawmaker. It would apply equally to Republicans who came to the United States as immigrants and earned their citizenship through the legal process conservatives say they champion.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, an ally of President Donald Trump, was born in Colombia and became a U.S. citizen at 18. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., immigrated from Mexico. Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., came from South Korea. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., arrived from Ukraine. Each of them would be ineligible to serve under the proposed amendment.
On the Democratic side, Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Ted Lieu of California, Robert Garcia of California, and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois are among those who would be affected.
The proposal extends beyond Congress. Any Senate-confirmed appointee, including Cabinet secretaries and federal judges, would need to be a natural-born citizen.
That standard, applied retroactively as a benchmark, would have disqualified officials on both sides of the aisle. Elaine Chao, who served as Transportation Secretary under President Trump and is the wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would have been ineligible. So would Alejandro Mayorkas, former President Joe Biden's Department of Homeland Security secretary, whose tenure drew relentless Republican criticism over border security.
The irony is hard to miss. Conservatives spent years arguing that Mayorkas was unfit for his post because of how he handled the job, not because of where he was born. Mace's amendment would make birthplace, rather than performance, the disqualifying factor.
Mace framed the proposal as a matter of allegiance. She told 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."
She added:
"The American people deserve leaders who put America first. This amendment closes a gap in our Constitution long overdue for closing."
The loyalty argument carries real weight when applied to specific cases. Omar's record of inflammatory statements and the DOJ investigation Vance referenced give Mace a politically potent example. But the constitutional remedy Mace proposes does not distinguish between a lawmaker whose loyalty is questioned and a lawmaker like Moreno or Ciscomani whose service has drawn no such criticism.
A constitutional amendment is a blunt instrument. It does not sort good immigrants from bad ones. It bars all of them.
Mace is currently running for governor of South Carolina, which gives the proposal a clear campaign dimension. A constitutional amendment targeting Omar plays well with primary voters. Whether it plays well with the broader Republican coalition, which includes naturalized citizens who followed the legal process, served their communities, and won elections, is a different question.
The timing also matters. Vance's disclosure that the DOJ is investigating Omar for possible immigration fraud landed just one day before Mace's announcement. Some Republicans have already called for Omar's deportation over the alleged offense. Mace's proposal channels that energy into a structural change rather than an individual enforcement action.
But structural changes have structural consequences. The Republican conference in Congress includes members born in Colombia, Mexico, South Korea, and Ukraine. A party that has worked to diversify its coalition, and that has pointed to legal immigration as the right way to become American, would be telling those same people they can never hold certain offices no matter how long they have served.
Even supporters of the principle behind Mace's amendment should be clear-eyed about the math. Two-thirds of both the House and Senate would need to vote yes. Then three-fourths of state legislatures would need to ratify. The alternative, a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures, has never succeeded in American history.
That makes this proposal, in practical terms, a statement rather than a likely law. It tells voters where Mace stands. It puts Omar's name back in the headlines. It forces a debate about who should be eligible to govern.
Whether that debate helps or hurts the Republican Party depends on whether voters see it as a principled stand or a message bill that would punish loyal allies along with political opponents.
Conservatives have long argued, correctly, that American citizenship earned through the legal process should mean something. Naturalized citizens take an oath. They renounce foreign allegiances. They stand in line, fill out the paperwork, pass the tests, and raise their right hand.
Mace's proposal tells those citizens that the oath was not enough. That the process was not enough. That no matter what they did or how they served, the accident of where they were born disqualifies them from the offices their neighbors elected them to hold.
If the concern is Ilhan Omar's conduct, there are tools for that, investigations, ethics proceedings, elections, and, if the DOJ probe warrants it, legal consequences. Those tools target behavior. A constitutional amendment targets birth.
The Founders reserved the natural-born requirement for exactly two offices: president and vice president. They chose not to extend it further. Mace believes that was a mistake. The Republican lawmakers who would lose their seats under her proposal may disagree.
When you build a wall wide enough to keep out your opponents, check first that your own people aren't standing on the other side of it.
