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Earlier this week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) indicated that he and other Republican lawmakers were exploring ways to reinterpret the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause, following the Supreme Court ruling last month against President Donald Trump’s attempt to do so through executive order.
In an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, Johnson cited the dissenting opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, who argued that the 14th Amendment only applied to formerly enslaved Black Americans who were recently freed at the time of its adoption. (Notably, the majority opinion dismissed this view, citing statements from the architects of the amendment itself demonstrating that they intended birthright citizenship rights to extend to further populations.)
“Justice Thomas explained that the 14th Amendment, the original intent, was to enhance and really value citizenship. And it’s been devalued because of birthright tourism, which is what we have now,” Johnson said.
The current interpretation of the clause is a “threat to the rule of law and national security,” the House speaker asserted. “We do need to address it.”
Johnson also said that he and other GOP lawmakers are “looking at all angles” to limit birthright citizenship, stating:
If there’s some legislative fix, we’ll advance that immediately. If it’s a constitutional amendment, as you know, it takes a little more time. But we’ve got to address this.
The so-called “birth tourism” Johnson referred to is exceedingly rare, and the concept is frequently touted by far right figures peddling the xenophobic “great replacement theory.” One highly contested estimate is that birth tourism accounts for around 26,000 births annually in the U.S. Even if that disputed figure is accurate, it is fewer than 1 percent of births in the country.
Johnson’s comments this week echo his remarks after the ruling was first rendered. After the Supreme Court announced its decision on birthright citizenship, Johnson, who was speaking to reporters at the time, rolled his eyes and claimed the pathway to citizenship was being “grossly abused.”
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling against Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, which was issued in the first week of his second term in office, held that his attempt to reinterpret the amendment was unlawful. Five of the justices in the majority agreed that it was unconstitutional, while the sixth, Brett Kavanaugh, said that an act of Congress could reinterpret it.
Immediately after the ruling was made, Trump endorsed Kavanaugh’s view, and called on lawmakers to send a bill to his desk.
“We can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”
Just a few days ago, Trump berated the Supreme Court again for its decision on birthright citizenship, calling its finding “wrong” in a midweek Truth Social post.
“I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote. “This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”
What Trump is demanding in his post is unorthodox, as it would be extremely unusual for the court to “rehear” a case without additional evidence or information, or a separate constitutional question to consider.
Most Americans appear to side with the Supreme Court’s ruling. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll conducted before the decision was published, 69 percent of Americans said they wanted the birthright citizenship standard as it’s currently understood to be upheld by the court, while only 27 percent said the court should upend it, allowing for Trump’s executive order altering its meaning to be enforced.
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