The Charleston County Council in South Carolina has reversed its decision to require local board members to swear an oath to the U.S. Constitution, opting instead to defer implementation until further guidance from the General Assembly. The move comes after a series of votes and growing resistance from members of the Charleston County Public Library’s Board of Trustees.
State Sen. Matt Leber (R) has been a strong advocate for enforcing the constitutional oath in all areas of public service. He confirmed with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson that the state’s laws mandate library board members to take the pledge. “I requested an opinion from the South Carolina Attorney General,” Leber told Breitbart News earlier in March. “He said, ‘Oh, it’s, it’s definitely in the law. These folks have to swear an oath to the Constitution.’ And I started to insist on that, and as you can imagine, it just devolved from there.”
Following Leber’s comments, the library board referred the matter to the county council, which initially voted against requiring the oath, according to WCBD. The decision was later reversed at the next council meeting, but on Thursday, the council again changed course, voting 7-2 to defer implementation until further direction is provided by state legislators. Another vote to finalize this decision is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Councilman Brantley Moody (R) expressed support for the oath requirement but stressed the need for clear instructions from state lawmakers. “We learned through the last week and a half that our clerk has been spending 24 hours a day trying to do the state’s work, trying to figure out how to implement this policy of taking the oath, which we all support,” Moody stated. “Our position tonight is we need to have the General Assembly and folks in Columbia give direction to all 46 counties. Charleston County should not be writing legislation for the entire state. Everybody up there is in favor of taking the oath; we just need to know how to do it.”
Leber noted that eight out of the 11 library board members have refused to take the oath, leading him to call for their removal. Following the council’s latest reversal, he criticized the decision, stating, “These people simply do not want to take the most Honorable American Oath.”
Leber is scheduled to hold a press conference outside the U.S. Custom House in Charleston on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the council’s vote, which he argues is “contrary to existing law.”
