Tennessee Legislature Takes Aim At Former Trump Official’s House Run. Are Their Actions Legal?

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Tennessee Legislature Takes Aim At Former Trump Official’s House Run. Are Their Actions Legal? (dailycaller.com)

TL;DR: No.

Snippet:

A bill passed by the Tennessee state legislature could end the congressional campaign of former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, and has already sparked a legal fight over its constitutionality.

SB 2616, passed on March 29, requires congressional candidates to have lived in Tennessee and the district they seek to represent for three years before they seek elected office. Ortagus moved to Nashville in 2021, according to The Tennessean, making her ineligible to run if Republican Gov. Bill Lee signs the legislation. She is running to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper, whose Fifth District became significantly more Republican following redistricting.

Qualifications for congressional candidates are set by the Constitution, which only mandates that House candidates be 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years, and a resident of the state that they seek to represent. The Supreme Court ruled in the case U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton that states can not “add to the qualification set forth in the text of the Constitution.”

TL;DR: No. Snippet: > A bill passed by the Tennessee state legislature could end the congressional campaign of former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, and has already sparked a legal fight over its constitutionality. > SB 2616, passed on March 29, requires congressional candidates to have lived in Tennessee and the district they seek to represent for three years before they seek elected office. Ortagus moved to Nashville in 2021, according to The Tennessean, making her ineligible to run if Republican Gov. Bill Lee signs the legislation. She is running to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper, whose Fifth District became significantly more Republican following redistricting. > Qualifications for congressional candidates are set by the Constitution, which only mandates that House candidates be 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years, and a resident of the state that they seek to represent. The Supreme Court ruled in the case U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton that states can not “add to the qualification set forth in the text of the Constitution.”