South Carolina firebrand Nancy Mace just tossed a political grenade into Washington — and the usual suspects are already melting down.
The Republican congresswoman and gubernatorial hopeful unveiled a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday that would bar naturalized citizens from serving in Congress, sitting on the federal bench or holding Senate-confirmed federal jobs. In short: if you weren’t born an American, Mace says you shouldn’t be wielding power at the highest levels of the US government.
And she’s not tiptoeing around the reason why. “The people writing America’s laws, confirming America’s judges, and representing America on the world stage should have one loyalty: America,” Mace declared on X. “Not any other country.”
Mace framed the proposal as a logical extension of the Constitution’s existing rules for the presidency, since both the president and vice president already must be natural-born citizens. Her argument: if the commander in chief has to meet that standard, why not the lawmakers crafting legislation and the judges interpreting it?
“For too long we have allowed foreign born members to hold seats in this government while making clear they are America last, not America first. We see it every day,” Mace wrote. “This constitutional amendment will put an end to it.”
There are currently 26 naturalized citizens serving in Congress — 19 Democrats and seven Republicans — but Mace zeroed in on three of the Democrats’ most polarizing figures: Ilhan Omar, Shri Thanedar and Pramila Jayapal.
“Ilhan Omar. Shri Thanedar. Pramila Jayapal. All born in foreign countries, none were citizens by birth. All sitting in the United States Congress,” Mace wrote. “All making clear every single day their loyalty is not to America.”
Cue the outrage press releases.
Jayapal, born in India and now chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, blasted the proposal as “racist legislation that denies the very history of a country that has been proudly shaped by immigrants.” “This narrow-minded, xenophobic legislation has no place in Congress,” she said, while urging lawmakers — including Republicans who became naturalized citizens — to condemn the measure.
Jayapal also invoked her own immigration story, recalling her citizenship ceremony in emotional terms. “My naturalization ceremony was one of the most meaningful days of my life,” she said. “Twenty-six years later, I have never forgotten that day as I stood with hundreds of people from across the world who had waited, in many cases decades, to become American citizens.” She added: “This was a profound moment, as I felt the pride of my American citizenship.”
Thanedar took the now-standard Democratic route of pivoting straight to kitchen-table issues.
“Gas prices have skyrocketed, people can’t afford healthcare, and housing is through the roof,” he said. “Instead of working to solve people’s problems, Rep. Mace is making racist and xenophobic attacks against me and my colleagues.” Then came the predictable MAGA broadside. “Her comments are reprehensible, but it’s clear this what we can expect from MAGA: the party of protecting pedophiles, starting wars, and raising costs.”
Omar’s office didn’t immediately weigh in, though critics of the Minnesota Democrat have long pointed to controversial comments on Israel and foreign policy as ammunition for arguments about divided allegiances — precisely the political fault line Mace is trying to exploit.
Of course, the amendment faces almost impossible odds. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds approval in both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states. In today’s hyper-polarized Washington, Congress can barely agree on what day it is, let alone rewrite the Constitution.
But Mace’s proposal wasn’t really designed to glide quietly into law. It was designed to force a debate Republicans increasingly want to have out loud: should foreign-born politicians hold enormous influence over American policy?
