House Republicans are exploring legal and constitutional strategies to block New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani from taking office if he wins Tuesday’s election, citing the Constitution’s post–Civil War “insurrection clause.”
The effort, first reported by the New York Post, is being led by the New York Young Republican Club, which argues that Mamdani’s past statements urging people to “resist ICE” and his ties to left-wing groups could qualify as “giving aid or comfort to the enemies” of the United States — language taken directly from Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That clause, enacted in 1868, bars from public office anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. or provided assistance to its enemies.