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Is Donald Trump eligible for 2024 US elections? Supreme Court to consider 14th Amendment case
US Supreme Court to hear arguments over former President Donald Trump's eligibility for the 2024 presidential race on Thursday.
In light of the US Constitution's insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court is ready to consider arguments over former President Donald Trump's eligibility for the 2024 US elections.
The court is set to convene at 10 am ET on Thursday to deliberate over this historic challenge. It will take into account Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, taking us back to Trump's actions of insurrection against the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
It's a significant hearing in the history of presidential candidates as it will be the first for a person of this status to be considered under the insurrection clause. This case was initially set to motion when a group of six voters (four Republicans and others) represented by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a call to action against Trump in Colorado in September 2023.
About Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution
This rarely invoked Section 3 clause regarding Disqualification from Holding Office states, "No person shall be a Senator … or elector of President… or hold any office… under the United States… who, having previously taken an oath…as an officer of the United States,… shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same…" However, Congress can vote to remove the clause.
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This Amendment clause was passed by Congress in 1866, while the states approved it in 1868. It was enacted after the Civil War to keep previous Confederates from returning as officeholders.
About the Trump v Anderson case
The February 8 Donal Trump case proceeding will last 80 minutes or longer. Texas-based attorney Jonathan Mitchell is representing Trump. On the other hand, Jason Murray will argue for the six Colorado challengers who questioned the former president's eligibility and demanded his exclusion from the Colorado primary (March 5) and general election ballots.
In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that Trump couldn't hold office due to his actions surrounding the January 6 attack. His name was ultimately withdrawn from the state's GOP presidential primary ballot after a 4-3 ruling of the court.
The legal battle (with a 6-3 conservative majority) has now reached the Supreme Court's supervision. Trump has already won the initial two contests of the Republican presidential primary in Iowa and New Hampshire. Two decades following Republican George W Bush's race for the 2000 elections, the Supreme Court has been involved yet again as a decisive controlling power in a presidential election.
The February 8 US Supreme Court hearing will determine whether Section 3 applies to the former president (and presidency). Furthermore, the Colorado court's exclusion of Trump from holding office in the White House will again be put under consideration. The January 6 incident will also be scrutinised, in addition to finding out if the provision can be enforced by state and federal courts alone. Can it only be enforced through legislation from Congress? All such vital points will be reconsidered this time.
Another argument raised by Trump's legal team highlights that the provision doesn't prohibit a person from running in the elections or winning them. It merely prohibits him from holding office.
The Supreme Court has been urged to swiftly rule on Trump's eligibility. Conversely, voters also hope the high court will validate the Colorado ruling. The voters' lawyers wrote, "The thrust of Trump's position is less legal than it is political… Section 3 is designed precisely to avoid giving oath-breaking insurrectionists like Trump the power to unleash such mayhem again".
