May I have just one minute?
I believe I have identified a constitutional question that deserves immediate legal examination following Supreme Court Case No. 25-365. My proposal is called REHEAR AND ENFORCE.
It is built on one central premise: the constitutional analysis may have begun too late in the Reconstruction sequence.
I believe the proper legal foundation begins with the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Freedmen’s Bureau legislation, the Reconstruction Amendments, and the Enforcement Acts—not with the Fourteenth Amendment standing alone.
From that foundation, I propose two constitutionally distinct, yet mutually reinforcing, presidential actions.
First, determine whether legally supportable grounds exist for a petition for rehearing.
Second, while that process proceeds, determine what continuing Article II responsibilities the President retains to faithfully execute the surviving Emancipation–Reconstruction laws.
I am not asking you to agree with my conclusions today. I am asking you to examine the evidence, test the legal theory, challenge it where necessary, and determine whether it presents substantial constitutional questions worthy of consideration.
If it does, I respectfully ask for your assistance in refining the proposal and in placing it before the President, the White House Counsel, the Attorney General, the Solicitor General, and other appropriate constitutional officers.
I believe this may present one of the most significant unresolved constitutional questions since Reconstruction.
If you’ll give me a few more minutes, I’ll show you why.