WASHINGTON, May 20, 2026, 12:08 EDT
Rep. Nancy Mace is set to roll out a constitutional amendment Wednesday that would bar anyone but natural-born U.S. citizens from serving as members of Congress, federal judges, or in Senate-confirmed posts. The South Carolina Republican, now also a gubernatorial candidate, is targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar with the proposal, though its reach would cut across both parties. Right now, only the presidency carries such a requirement; Mace wants to make it standard across a swath of the federal government.
The proposal is drawing attention now as Mace pushes to escalate a debate over citizenship, aiming to launch a direct effort to amend the Constitution rather than simply issuing a routine House condemnation. As it stands, House members must have held U.S. citizenship for seven years, while senators face a nine-year minimum—there’s no rule saying they must be born citizens in either chamber.
The move comes as Mace sharpens her wider South Carolina pitch, zeroing in on who shoulders the bills for government and expansion. On Monday, she called for a one-year halt on new data centers — the massive server complexes behind cloud and AI tech — warning their energy demands could hit families and small businesses with higher costs.
“If you hold power in the American government, you should be a natural-born American citizen,” Mace told Fox News. She pointed to Omar, the Minnesota Democrat born in Somalia who gained U.S. citizenship in 2000. According to Fox, Omar’s spokesperson hadn’t responded to a request for comment. Fox News
The proposal wouldn’t just single out Omar. According to Fox, Congress currently has 19 members born outside the U.S.—some with at least one American parent, making them natural-born citizens. On the Republican side, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Reps. Juan Ciscomani (Arizona), Young Kim (California), and Victoria Spartz (Indiana) would be in the spotlight. The Democrats referenced in the piece: Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Ted Lieu, Robert Garcia, and Raja Krishnamoorthi.
The amendment’s prospects look grim. Congress would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to get it through under Article V, and after that, three-fourths of state legislatures must sign off. The National Archives points out the alternate method—a constitutional convention—has never actually resulted in a ratified amendment.
Mace’s push around data centers stands alone, but it feeds into a broader battle over access and costs. “South Carolina is not Big Tech’s personal power grid,” she said in a statement on May 18. After a moratorium, she added, “data centers pay their own way or they do not come here.” Representative Nancy Mace
The dispute over technology is no longer limited to South Carolina. According to E&E News, a Politico affiliate, Mace has thrown her support behind a bipartisan effort to pause new AI server hub projects. South Carolina, the outlet notes, is home to at least 44 data centers, based on one estimate. That tally includes a Meta campus in Aiken County, valued at several million dollars.
State and local pushback continues, with utilities and lawmakers caught between the promise of jobs and tax dollars and concerns about water, grid capacity, and rising customer bills. Back in April, Reuters noted that Maine’s governor vetoed a proposed moratorium on new large data centers, a move that would have halted further approvals. At least a dozen other states have similar legislative efforts targeting the industry.
Right now, it’s unclear if either of Mace’s proposals will amount to more than campaign signaling. The citizenship amendment faces a steep climb—House conservatives alone can’t deliver the numbers. As for the data-center pause, that hinges on South Carolina legislators. That one could push Republicans to show just how much resistance they’re willing to put up against projects linked to the AI boom.
