If Greene had personally engaged in violence or physically prevented Congress from meeting to vote on the peaceful transfer of power, there would be a serious argument for using Section 3. But the case against her boils down to the charge that she incited the riot by intemperate words.

Under Section 3’s language and the Reconstruction-era precedents, that is not enough: Congress and the courts in that era, understanding the danger of punishing political speech, refused to disqualify officials over pre–Civil War secessionist rhetoric. Only those who actually “engaged” in the rebellion or aided it after the outbreak of violence were disqualified. No evidence was presented of Greene doing any such thing.

In fact, as with other congressional Republicans who bought into Donald Trump’s stolen-election theories, Greene stayed in the Capitol and participated in the vote when it resumed — a regrettable vote to object to certifying the election, but one that is legally protected by the speech and debate clause.