Supreme Court to decide if Trump should be banned from presidency in huge ruling
The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments as to whether former President Donald Trump should be banned from running for president in 2024.
It's uncharted territory for the court and will be the justices' most consequential election case since Bush v Gore in 2000. The court will begin hearing arguments Thursday to decide whether Trump will be disqualified from returning to the White House due to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, which resulted in the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol.
This case will be the first time justices will consider a constitutional provision adopted after the Civil War to prevent those who previously held office who "engaged in insurrection" from holding office once again. It also comes just days after a federal appeals court ruled Trump does not have presidential immunity that could protect him from some of the 91 felonies he currently faces.
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It's exactly the sort of case the court tries to avoid, one where it is the final arbiter of a political dispute. This hearing comes after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump incited the riot in the nation's capital and is ineligible to return to office as President.
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As a result of their decision, Trump should not be on the ballot for the state's primary on March 5, the court ruled. It was the first time Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was applied to a presidential candidate. Section 3 reads:
"No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability."
Three of the Supreme Court Justices were appointed by Trump during his presidency (AFP via Getty Images)Trump's lawyers are arguing that the amendment can't be used to keep Trump off the ballot for several different reasons. One is that they argue the January 6 riot wasn't an insurrection, and even if it was, they say Trump did not participate.
The wording of the amendment also excludes the presidency and candidates running for president, according to his legal team. Even if they are wrong about those arguments, they have a third argument that Congress must pass legislation to reinvigorate Section 3.
Lawyers for Republican and independent voters who sued to remove Trump's name from the Colorado ballot counter said there is plenty of evidence that the events of January 6 constituted an insurrection and that it was Trump who incited it. They argue it would be absurd to apply Section 3 to everything but the presidency or that Trump is somehow exempt, also arguing the provision needs no enabling legislation.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments as to whether Trump should be kept off the 2024 ballot (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)A definitive ruling for Trump from the US Supreme Court would largely end efforts in Colorado, Maine, and elsewhere to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot in November. A decision that upholds the Colorado decision would amount to a declaration from the Supreme Court that Trump engaged in insurrection and is barred by the 14th Amendment from holding office again - allowing states to keep him off the ballot and put his campaign in jeopardy.
When making their decision, justices could choose a less conclusive outcome, but that would be made with the knowledge that the issue could return to them, possibly after the November general election and in the midst of a full-blown constitutional crisis. Trump is separately appealing a ruling by Maine's Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, to state court.
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, front right, spoke at a press conference to defend Trump (AFP via Getty Images)Bellows ruled he was ineligible to appear on Maine's ballot over his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and Maine Secretary of State's rulings are on hold until the appeals play out. The court has shown it will try to act quickly in this case, dramatically shortening the period in which it receives written briefings and holds arguments in the courtroom.
People began lining up outside the court as early as Wednesday hoping to get one of the few seats allotted to the public. Susan Acker, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was in line with two friends, she said: "This is a landmark decision and I want to be in the room where it happened, to quote 'Hamilton'."
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While the issues in front of the justices may be new and uncharted waters, Trump is no stranger to the justices deciding his face - three of whom he appointed while president. In recent years, the justices have considered many Trump-related cases, including declining to embrace his claims of fraud in the 2020 election and refusing to shield tax records from Congress and prosecutors in New York.
Trump's lawyers will argue that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Before the Supreme Court is even finished deciding this case, the justices will almost certainly be dealing with another appeal from Trump. The controversial Republican is expected to seek an emergency order to keep his election subversion trial on hold so he can appeal lower-court rulings that he is not immune from criminal charges.
The court is also set to hear an appeal in April from one of the more than 1,200 people charged in relation to the Capitol riot. The case could upend a charge prosecutors have brought against more than 300 people, including Trump.
The last time the court played such a central role in presidential politics was 24 years ago when it reached a 5-4 decision that effectively ended the disputed 2000 election in favour of George W Bush. There is only one member of the court still serving who took part in the Bush v Gore decision - Justice Clarence Thomas. He has ignored calls by some Democratic lawmakers to step aside from the case as his wife, Ginni, supported Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election results and attended the rally that preceded the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters.
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