GOP split on path forward after birthright citizenship blow

▪ GOP divided on birthright citizenship plan

▪ DSA topples another incumbent in Denver

▪ House takes off after SAVE America Act standoff

▪ NPR explains mistaken Alito report

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Republicans on Capitol Hill are divided over the best path forward after the Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship through his Day 1 executive order.

Chief Justice John Roberts — joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and all three liberal justices — wrote for the majority that the 14th Amendment automatically guarantees citizenship for nearly all children born on U.S. soil, even those born to parents living in the country illegally.

They rejected the president’s executive order requiring at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen or have permanent legal status, in a significant blow to Trump’s immigration agenda.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh also voted to block Trump’s order but said he disagreed with the majority opinion.

Trump responded by calling on Congress to pass legislation to end the practice, adding, “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”

But many of Trump’s allies in Congress — especially those with legal backgrounds — broke with the president, saying a constitutional amendment would be required to enact the policy change.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded in real time to news of the birthright citizenship decision, saying, “I’m sure that the conclusion from this decision is you have to amend the Constitution to fix that.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who previously clerked for Justice Samuel Alito, concluded plainly, “We’re going to need a constitutional amendment.”

A number of Republican lawmakers agreed and came armed and ready for the task.

“Ordinary legislation cannot repair the damage. A constitutional amendment is now required,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said in a post on the social platform X. “Accordingly, I will be announcing a forthcoming constitutional amendment to restore the sacred bond between American citizens and their government.”

Schmitt said Kavanaugh’s separate opinion — in which the associate justice argued Trump’s order was unconstitutional under a 1940 federal statute that codified the court’s understanding of the 14th amendment into law —“MAY have left Congress a door,” adding, “I’m filing legislation to walk through it.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) noted that he “saw this coming” and pointed to the constitutional amendment he filed earlier this year that would grant birthright citizenship only to those with a parent who is a citizen, a legal permanent resident or an active service member lawfully in the U.S.

Several Republicans acknowledged the uphill climb the GOP still has if they want to get a constitutional amendment ratified. Schmitt noted the process is “purposefully difficult,” requiring two-thirds of each congressional chamber and three-quarters of the states to support the move. And Democrats are all but certain to quash the effort.

“It takes 38 states. We’ll never get that. We needed this Supreme Court to have courage,” conservative commentator Megyn Kelly said on X, pushing back on Lee’s call for a constitutional amendment.

Some Republicans are proposing a different approach.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) touted his bill cracking down on so-called “birth tourism,” a term referring to the practice of foreign-born pregnant women intentionally traveling to the U.S. to give birth so their children receive U.S. citizenship.

“One thing we know for sure: foreign nationals are exploiting our laws and undermining our nation’s sovereignty,” Cornyn said on X. “My Barring American Citizenship by Keeping Out Foreign Fraudsters (BACK OFF) Act, which would put a stop to the practice of birth tourism by adversaries like China and Russia, is a good first step.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who’s in line to become the top Republican on , said he would make stopping birth tourism “one of my top priorities” in the role.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) reposted reporting about a bill introduced by the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in 1993, before he was majority leader, that would have eliminated birthright citizenship for children whose parents were in the U.S. illegally.

“I will reintroduce this exact bill when I return to DC,” Moreno wrote on X. “Let’s see how today’s DC Democrats will vote when offered the ideas of the Democrat party that used to love this country and the American people!”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, advocated a more practical approach.

“The best response to the Court’s devastatingly wrong ruling on birthright citizenship is more deportations, a more........

© The Hill