Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was approached by a reporter for Fox News who asked for her thoughts on a newly proposed Republican resolution that would ban anyone foreign-born from occupying a seat in Congress. The legislation was announced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). The bill proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would require any member of Congress, federal judges, or Senate-confirmed officers to be natural-born citizens.
After asking for her thoughts on the resolution, Omar turned to the reporter as they made their way down a long hallway, and said, “Good luck to her.” If the resolution passes and the states ratify the amendment, it would take the same standard currently applied to presidents and vice presidents, and apply it to other government public servants.
Mace specifically called out Omar as one of three individuals this rule would eliminate from Congress when she made the announcement about the resolution on social media platform X, calling it “long overdue.” Omar was originally born in Somalia. She became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in 2000. “Ilhan Omar. Shri Thanedar. Pramilla Jayapal,” Mace said in her post.
“All born in foreign countries, none were citizens by birth. All sitting in the United States Congress. All making clear every single day their loyalty is not to America,” she continued. As of this writing, there are a total of 26 people serving in Congress that are not natural-born citizens, including 19 Democrats and seven Republicans, a report from Fox News via Yahoo News said.
Omar told Fox that she’s not at all concerned about the bill having enough support to pass. In a statement released to Fox by Mace, the South Carolina Republican said, “If you hold power in the American government, you should be a natural-born American citizen. For too long we have allowed foreign-born members to hold seats in this government, while making clear their loyalty is not here. We see it every day.”
Making changes to the U.S. Constitution is a monumental task. The resolution will need to pass through both the House and the Senate by a two-thirds vote. After that, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in the country. The resolution has not pulled in support from GOP leadership, nor has any large group of Republicans co-sponsored the bill.
The reporter followed up that question with Omar by asking her about another piece of legislation created by Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), called the “Disqualifying Dual Loyalty Act,” which was first introduced in October 2025. The bill would prohibit anyone from serving in Congress who has dual citizenship with another country. It would also force individuals to renounce their foreign citizenship in order to serve or be considered for a congressional seat.
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When asked about Fine’s bill, Omar replied, “Who’s that?” Fine spoke about the legislation in a statement, saying, “I think it’s a fair argument to say you can only swear allegiance to one country, and if you’re in Congress, that allegiance should be to America,” Fine said in a statement. “This bill ensures that the people making laws for our citizens are themselves fully committed to our country, not divided between two.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video