An Inconvenient Text: Will House Members Obey the Constitution They Read Aloud?

It's wonderful that Members of the House of Representatives are preparing to hear a reading of the Constitution of the United States. I would enthusiastically echo the hopes of Dahlia Lithwick and Garrett Epps that close attention to such a performance might prompt at least some of our constitutional fundamentalists to appreciate that the document they revere is both imperfect and complex. Things they hope to find there will be missing. Things they wish were not there are explicit. Readers of Dahlia's and Garrett's essays will find numerous examples to mull over.

I thought, therefore, that I would limit my post today to a single question: After the reading of the Constitution, will all members of Congress who are military reserve officers or who hold appointments as retired military officer resign their posts? I ask because, Section 6, Paragraph 2, of Article I states that "no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." It's called the Incompatability Clause. To hold a commission in the armed forces reserves or an appointment as retired military officer is to hold "Office under the United States." So, while in Congress, don't Reserve officers and retired military officers have to resign their executive branch positions?

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