Schumer fighting to have Trump’s Jan. 6 actions unguarded from Supreme Court immunity ruling

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is advancing legislation to classify former President Donald Trump’s actions on the Jan. 6 insurrection as unofficial following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

Schumer and his Democratic colleagues say they will use powers that allow Congress to regulate courts in a legislative push to classify Trump’s actions as unofficial so he is not immune from criminal prosecution. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are immune from being prosecuted for official acts while in office but not immune from unofficial acts.

“[The Supreme Court] incorrectly declared that former President Trump enjoys broad immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while in office. They incorrectly declared that all future presidents are entitled to a breathtaking level of immunity so long as their conduct is ostensibly carried out in their official capacity as president,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Monday.

“I will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity. We’re doing this because we believe that in America no president should be free to overturn an election against the will of the people, no matter what the conservative justices may believe,” he continued.

If successful, the legislation would classify Trump’s actions in allegedly pushing to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as his involvement with the Jan. 6 insurrection, as unofficial, allowing Trump to still be prosecuted for those actions.

Schumer said conservative justices on the court had “effectively placed a crown on Donald Trump’s head.” He also said Senate Democrats would look for additional ways to “rein in the abuse of our federal judiciary.”

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) disagreed with Schumer’s push.

“Democrats seem to want to turn Washington into The Hague,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Their problem with the Supreme Court isn’t that they won’t be able to prosecute a president for unofficial criminal activity — because they still can. Their problem is that they won’t be able to prosecute official actions that they don’t like.”