McConnell: Senate won’t intervene in Cruz 2016 eligibility

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says the upper chamber won’t issue a resolution on whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is constitutionally eligible to run for president.

{mosads}“I just don’t think the Senate ought to get into the middle of this,” McConnell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “These guys will all slug it out in Iowa and New Hampshire. We’ll have a nominee hopefully by sometime in the spring.”

The eligibility of Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father, to serve as president has been called into question by Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump, with other prominent Republicans calling the concerns legitimate.

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

Cruz, a constitutional lawyer, has maintained that he is eligible to be president, pointing out the distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens.

The Senate previously issued a resolution confirming then-nominee John McCain’s eligibility to serve as president. The Arizona senator was born on a military base in Panama to American parents.