Constitutional literacy test for Congress?
AMERICA OUT LOUD PODCAST NETWORK
AMERICA OUT LOUD PODCAST NETWORK
4.7 • 527 Ratings
🗓️ 31 May 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | helping to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. This is the Constitution Study on the America Out Loud Network with your host, Paul Engle. |
| 0:30.7 | I heard a question asked of another podcaster that I just had to talk about here. |
| 0:36.6 | It's one I'd been asked before, but again, the last time I heard it was for another podcaster. And the question is this. Can Congress pass a law requiring a candidate to pass a constitutional literacy test before taking office? |
| 0:50.3 | Hello there, everyday Americans Paul Engel here with the Constitution study where we read and study the Constitution, teach the rising generation, be free. Glad you could join me today. This question caught me to tell. I've been asked similar questions in the past. But this one, you know, I heard it and I just, I had to talk about it because the answer is, well, not the way the question was asked. |
| 1:14.8 | Now, Congress cannot pass a law that says, well, you have to pass this test in order to be, in order to serve. |
| 1:24.2 | Now, there is an article one, section five, we do see that each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members. |
| 1:35.0 | But you see the qualifications for House and Senate are established under Article 1 of the Constitution. |
| 1:43.0 | Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2 reads, |
| 1:47.1 | No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of 25 years |
| 1:51.2 | and been seven years of citizens in the United States, and who shall not, when elected, |
| 1:56.1 | be an inhabitant of the state in which he shall be chosen. Section 3, Clause 3 says, no person shall be a senator who shall not have attained |
| 2:05.2 | the age of 30 years and been nine years of citizen of the United States, and who shall |
| 2:09.7 | not, when elected, be in the habit of the state for which they shall be chosen. |
| 2:13.3 | Those are the qualifications for office. |
| 2:16.8 | Now, in Section 5, when it talks about the House judging the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members, |
| 2:25.2 | the House determines for the House of Representatives, have you met the qualifications? |
| 2:30.4 | So you can't really add a qualification. |
| 2:32.7 | Lord knows, I'd say this all the time. |
| 2:35.0 | You know, I wish that people running for office had read instead of the Constitution. |
| 2:41.2 | Had any clue. They're each going to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United |
| 2:46.1 | States. That's required by Article 6, Clause 3, which reads, as we get to the, Article 6 reads, |
| 2:53.1 | the senators are represented before mentioned, and the members of the several state |
... |
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