Why It Matters
The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government will hold a hearing titled "Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof: Birthright Citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment Part II" on September 2. The hearing arrives as the Trump administration has moved aggressively to restrict birthright citizenship through executive action, setting up a direct clash between the executive branch and the courts over constitutional interpretation.
In July 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. and are citizens at birth. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion. The decision appeared to settle the matter, but President Trump signed Executive Order 14418 on August 6, directing federal agencies not to issue citizenship documents in several categories of cases, including when neither parent is a citizen and either parent is an alien enemy, a foreign government employee, or engaged in fraud to obtain citizenship. The order also covers births in U.S. territories where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute.
The Hearing
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) chairs the subcommittee, with Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) serving as ranking member. The hearing will examine H.R. 9633, the Birthright Citizenship Clarification Act of 2026, which would amend Section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify which classes of individuals born in the U.S. are not nationals or citizens at birth.
Context
The legal challenge to the executive order was swift. On August 11, lawyers who had successfully challenged Trump's original birthright citizenship order filed a motion in federal court in New Hampshire asking Judge Joseph Laplante to clarify that Executive Order 14418 goes beyond the narrow diplomatic exception to birthright citizenship and violates an existing classwide preliminary injunction issued in July 2025.
The executive order authorized the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Commissioner of Social Security to take "all appropriate measures" to carry it out. On the same day, Trump signed a second executive order directing the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to crack down on birth tourism.
The Bottom Line
The hearing represents a critical moment in the ongoing legal and political battle over birthright citizenship. With the Supreme Court having already ruled in favor of birthright citizenship and the Trump administration now testing the boundaries of executive authority, Congress is poised to weigh in on whether statutory law should align with or diverge from the Court's constitutional interpretation. The outcome could reshape citizenship policy for years to come.
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