By Jim Thomas | Tuesday, 05 May 2026 10:22 PM EDT
Lawmakers “can’t serve two masters,” and Washington has no way of knowing how many members of Congress hold foreign passports, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) said on Tuesday as he promoted a bill barring dual citizens from serving in Congress.
Fine introduced the Disqualifying Dual Loyalty Act on October 24. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) is a co-sponsor.
The measure would require House and Senate candidates to renounce any foreign citizenship prior to election, according to its referral to the House Committee on House Administration.
Fine stated that no disclosure requirement exists for current members of Congress.
“No one’s even had to disclose it,” he told “Finnerty.”
He singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), arguing her public comments raise doubts about divided loyalty.
“When you see people like Ilhan Omar talk about how she is here to fight for Somalia, you have to wonder if she ever gave up that citizenship,” Fine said.
Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2000, has rejected accusations of divided loyalty.
Fine pointed to a viral clip featuring Maine state Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) telling ABC’s “Good Morning America” she hoped to “help our country, our former country, Somalia.”
Fine said the comments showed “the depth of the problem.”
Dhalac became the first Somali-born mayor in the United States after her 2022 election as South Portland’s mayor. The clip was reposted widely last July.
Fine noted that the issue extends beyond birthright.
“Just because you’re not born here doesn’t mean you’re not a dual citizen,” he said. “If your parents were not from here, they may have chosen to make you a citizen of another country as well.”
Fine stated the full scope is unknown but argued some Democrats had “made clear the interests of the United States are not the most important thing to them.”
When asked why House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not advanced the bill, Fine cited Senate math.
He said the upper chamber would “never, ever” pass it, referencing the stalled Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE America Act — a GOP voter-eligibility measure passed by the House in February.
Fine emphasized that security stakes extend beyond floor votes.
“They get access to classified information, they get to sit in hearings, and they get to learn things that people from their home countries would never get to know,” he said.
“It’s why we simply can’t allow this to happen.”
The bill remains in committee with no scheduled floor vote.
