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Donald Trump's Colorado ballot ban: US top court agrees to review case on February 8
A broad Supreme Court decision in the ex-president’s favour would end efforts around the country to remove him from the ballot.
The US Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Colorado can bar Donald Trump from the presidential ballot, taking up a landmark constitutional and political clash stemming from his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
The justices said they will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on Feb. 8. They will review a Colorado Supreme Court decision that said Trump engaged in insurrection – and forfeited his right to run for president again – by trying to nullify Joe Biden’s election victory and inciting the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol assault.
The clash over the Constitution’s insurrection clause promises to be a pivot point in Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House. A broad Supreme Court decision in the ex-president’s favour would end efforts around the country to remove him from the ballot. A ruling against Trump would fuel that drive and raise new questions about the viability of his candidacy.
The showdown comes just as the party nominating contests get underway, starting for Republicans with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary. Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.
The case will test the high court’s ability to navigate a partisan firestorm while grappling with novel constitutional questions. Chief Justice John Roberts is likely to seek consensus, possibly with a narrow ruling, but that may prove challenging on a conservative-controlled court that often divides sharply in high-profile issues.
Insurrection Clause
The clash turns on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted shortly after the Civil War as the nation grappled with the status of former Confederate soldiers and leaders. The provision says a person who took an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” is ineligible to hold office again.
The clause doesn’t say how it is to be enforced, though it gives Congress power to lift a ban with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Trump contended in his appeal that the clause doesn’t apply to the president, that he didn’t engage in insurrection and that only Congress can declare him disqualified. He also made narrower arguments that would apply just to Colorado and not nationwide.
The six Colorado voters challenging Trump also urged the Supreme Court to grant review, though they said some of the former president’s arguments weren’t worthy of high court consideration. They are represented by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
The Colorado Supreme Court said in its 4-3 decision last month that Trump engaged in “overt, voluntary and direct participation” in an insurrection that culminated with the Capitol riot.
The majority pointed to Trump’s unsupported claims that the election was stolen, his fiery Jan. 6, 2021, speech to a crowd that included armed people and his demands before and during the riot that Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify the results. The ruling was the first ever to invoke the insurrection clause against an ex-president.
The Colorado ruling won’t take effect, if at all, until the Supreme Court rules. The state court directed Colorado’s secretary of state to keep Trump’s name on the presidential primary ballot in the meantime.
