Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he believes the Supreme Court made a mistake in its recent ruling on birthright citizenship but stopped short of joining conservatives who have directed criticism at Justice Amy Coney Barrett following the closely divided decision.
Speaking with reporters, Vance was asked whether he was among the conservatives who are “angry” with Barrett after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.
Rather than focusing on Barrett personally, the vice president directed his comments toward the court’s decision, arguing that the ruling was incorrect but emphasizing that mistakes can be addressed through future action.
“Well look, do I think she made a mistake in the ruling? I do,” Vance said.
The vice president questioned whether the 14th Amendment was ever intended to grant citizenship in situations involving people who are in the United States illegally or those who enter the country temporarily and have a child while visiting.
“I don’t know how anybody can say that if a person who is an illegal alien or a person, for example, who’s pregnant and comes to the United States on a vacation, they have a baby and all of a sudden their entire family gets the benefits of American citizenship,” Vance said.
He added that he does not believe such circumstances reflect the original intent behind the 14th Amendment.
“I don’t think that’s what the framers of the 14th amendment had in mind,” he said. “I think it’s the right case.”
Despite disagreeing with the outcome, Vance acknowledged that the Supreme Court reached its decision by a narrow 5-4 margin and said the administration intends to continue pursuing the issue.
“But look, it was 5-4,” Vance said. “Sometimes the Supreme Court makes mistakes. We’re going to try to correct that mistake, but nobody’s perfect, including the Supreme Court.”
The vice president concluded the exchange by wishing reporters a happy Independence Day before departing.
The Supreme Court’s decision prompted renewed calls from President Donald Trump for Congress to take action on ending birthright citizenship.
Vance also discussed the ruling during an appearance on Fox News with host Laura Ingraham, where he argued that the close vote may provide encouragement to supporters of changing the current interpretation of birthright citizenship.
“I know a lot of conservatives, Laura, certainly the people that I’m talking to, are extremely disappointed,” Vance said.
He pointed to the 5-4 split as evidence that the legal debate remains unsettled, noting that some legal observers had anticipated a much larger majority against the administration’s position.
“I do think there is a big silver lining here and that’s the simple fact that a lot of legal experts expected this case to go in the wrong direction by 7-2 or even 8-1,” Vance said.
According to the vice president, the narrow margin suggests that the issue remains open to future legal and legislative challenges.
“The fact that this case was a 5-4 decision effectively means that the concept of birthright citizenship, which is an absurdity to the 14th Amendment, that concept is hanging by a thread,” Vance said.
His remarks came as the administration continues to push for changes to birthright citizenship following the Supreme Court’s closely divided ruling.
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