“This has been bothering me since Inauguration Day. Why was Trump permitted to take the Oath without placing his hand on the Bible?”
— Sue Wilson, Wallington, N.J.
Hi Sue,
Presidents don’t have to swear with their hand on a Bible when they take office.
To understand why, let’s look at the Constitution.
Article II, Section I says: “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:– I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Nothing about the Bible there.
While religion is baked into much of American law, politics and tradition, the Constitution rejects religious tests for office.
A couple of historical points are worth noting here, too. Perhaps contrary to the popular imagination, presidents haven’t always used Bibles during inaugurations. That wouldn’t make it a legal requirement if they had, but it hasn’t even been the uniform practice. And consider that Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts didn’t redo the oath with Trump’s hand on the Bible. I mention this because Roberts and Barack Obama botched the oath at Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, and they later redid it with the exact wording to be safe. It’s unclear what the legal implications (if any) would’ve been had they not done a second take. But their motivation was to render the Constitution’s words precisely. So, while Trump’s second term has already been packed with provocations against the Constitution, this wasn’t one of them. Have any questions or comments for me? I’d love to hear from you! Please email deadlinelegal@nbcuni.com for a chance to be featured in a future newsletter.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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