by Emilio Jaksetic
On January 6, 2022, Representative Elaine Luria (D-2nd District) announced her decision to run for reelection. In the opening sentence of her statement she said: “On the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, I recommit to uphold my oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.’”
She correctly quoted language from the oath of office required by military personnel and federal officials and employees. (See the oath of office here.) But later in her remarks, she engaged in an odd verbal prestidigitation.
“I take my oath seriously. Today I know that my continued service is not a choice, but a duty to our nation and our values as Americans,” she said. Her remarks ended with the following closing: “I took an oath to serve. And in this critical moment for our democracy, I intend to continue to serve.”
Without warning and without explanation Luria magically transformed the oath of office from a commitment to defend the Constitution into a duty to serve by continuing in office and running for reelection.
The federal oath of office is a requirement that a person takes upon entering federal service — it is not a requirement that compels a person to enter federal service. The federal oath (1) does not compel a person to enlist or reenlist in the United States military; (2) does not compel a person to become a federal employee or a federal appointee; and (3) does not compel a person to run for Congress or run for reelection. The decision to enlist or reenlist, the decision to serve as a federal employee or appointee, and the decision to run for election or reelection are personal choices, not obligations or duties imposed by the federal oath.
Either (1) Luria has a mistaken belief about the meaning of the federal oath she has taken, or (2) she is trying to get voters to believe her personal choice to seek reelection is a selfless act of duty compelled by her oath, not a decision based on her political ambition or her personal sense of duty. Whatever her motive, Luria is not compelled by the federal oath to seek reelection.
An announcement for reelection may not warrant an exhaustive listing of every reason why an elected official seeks reelection. But it should provide the main reasons for doing so. Luria’s announcement gave two reasons: (1) the conflation of her oath of office with her personal sense of duty, and (2) her participation on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. Conspicuously absent from her reelection announcement is any reference to her record in Congress or her positions on the policies pursued by the Biden administration.
The voters of Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in Hampton Roads should look for more specifics about her record in Congress and her positions on President Biden’s actions and inactions before deciding whether to vote for her.
Emilio Jaksetic, a retired lawyer, is a Republican in Fairfax County.