A new Tennessee proposal is taking direct aim at who gets to run for Congress, and a lot of people are about to feel very singled out. A freshly filed measure in Nashville would bar naturalized U.S. citizens and Tennesseans with dual citizenship from qualifying as party primary candidates for the U.S. House and Senate. The companion bills, SB1825 in the Senate and HB2036 in the House, are sponsored by Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis and Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville, and would take effect as soon as they are signed into law. Supporters say it is about undivided loyalty. Critics say it is about to hit a wall in federal court.
What the bill would do
The one-page proposal adds a new section to Tennessee election law that would block anyone who "holds dual citizenship" or "is not a natural-born citizen" from qualifying as a candidate in a primary election for federal office. The bill spells out definitions for both terms and repeats that the act would kick in immediately upon becoming law. The full text is available on the Tennessee General Assembly website: HB2036/SB1825.
Backers and rhetoric
Sen. Brent Taylor, the Memphis Republican carrying the measure in the Senate, argued that "Natural-born citizens without dual citizenship embody undivided allegiance to America from day one," according to The Daily Memphian. In the House, Rep. Johnny Garrett, who filed the companion bill and is running for Tennessee's 6th Congressional District, cast the proposal as a way to set a "clear and uniform eligibility standard" that he says will bolster public confidence, Tennessee Lookout reported. Supporters also point out that it would mirror the natural-born requirement that already exists for the presidency.
Constitutional questions
Legal scholars are already waving the red flag. Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer told Tennessee Lookout that the U.S. Constitution sets the exclusive qualifications for members of Congress, and that any state law layering on extra requirements would almost certainly trigger a fast court challenge. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that states cannot add qualifications for federal office, including in the case U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, as summarized by Oyez.
Political stakes in Tennessee
The proposal lands in the middle of a Tennessee legislative session already thick with immigration-related bills, and it could reshape who appears on Republican primary ballots across the state. Garrett's own bid for the 6th District and the broader national debate over lawmakers born overseas give the bill outsized political weight, local reporting notes. Whether it becomes more than a talking point will depend on how key committees in Nashville handle it and how serious the threat of litigation looks if the measure advances to a floor vote, according to The Daily Memphian.
Legal implications
If the bills pick up momentum, expect a quick run to federal court. Opponents are likely to argue that Article I of the U.S. Constitution, combined with Supreme Court precedent, blocks states from tacking on new qualifications for congressional candidates. Prior decisions give judges a ready-made roadmap for evaluating whether Tennessee can limit who appears on federal primary ballots, and any lawsuit is likely to move quickly because it raises core constitutional questions about federal elections. For background on how the Court has treated similar attempts to change qualifications for Congress, see the U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton case overview on Oyez.
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