A federal judge ruled Monday evening that a constitutional challenge to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) re-election bid could move forward, after having signaled some sympathy toward the advocacy groups who brought the case, The Associated Press reports.
The groups' challenge, filed last month with the Georgia secretary of state's office, claims that Greene was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and is therefore ineligible to run for re-election under the 14th Amendment of the Consitution. The 14th Amendment was ratified shortly after the Civil War, and bars lawmakers who supported or engaged in an insurrection from serving again.
But now that District Judge Amy Totenberg has permitted the challenge, what happens next?
Well, first, "a scheduled hearing in front of a Georgia state judge will take place as planned on Friday morning," CNN writes. That state judge will hear from both sides of the case and decide whether or not the 14th Amendment applies to Greene. If the judge rules in favor of the activists and advocacy groups and against Greene, the firebrand representative can then file appeals "and the matter may not be resolved before ballots are printed for the May 25 primary election," per CNN.
Outside of the individual case, however, Totenberg's ruling "could reverberate beyond" our Georgia lawmaker in question, considering "similar constitutional challenges are pending against other Republican officials and could even be lodged against former President Donald Trump if he runs again in 2024," CNN reports.
Greene has denied participating in or engaging with the Capitol riot.