The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision kicking him off the state’s primary ballot over his actions surrounding the 2020 election.
The justices are speeding the case, with oral argument scheduled for Feb. 8.
The case could settle not just Colorado but other states where Mr. Trump’s opponents are trying to deny voters the chance to vote for him, saying he is ineligible to serve as president under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, and therefore shouldn’t appear on ballots.
At least four justices had to agree to hear the case for the court to take it up.
Colorado’s Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling last month, found that Mr. Trump did engage in an insurrection by encouraging the mob to battle against the Electoral College certification of President Biden’s victory.
The state justices acknowledged they were breaking new legal ground in ordering the state to remove his name from the ballots to be printed for the primary in March. They anticipated Mr. Trump’s appeal and stayed their ruling pending U.S. Supreme Court action.
Now, the federal justices will get a crack at the most politically charged case since the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000.
Some congressional Democrats demanded last week that Justice Clarence Thomas, the court’s most senior member and an appointee of George H.W. Bush, recuse himself from the proceedings, saying his wife supported Mr. Trump’s efforts in 2020.
The relevant section of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment 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.”
The Colorado justices found that Mr. Trump’s words to supporters surrounding the 2020 election did constitute engaging in an insurrection, and they ruled he is an officer of the U.S. They ruled that under state law, officials cannot list anyone on the ballot who is not eligible, so Mr. Trump’s name must be removed.
The former president’s team argued that decisions about eligibility under that section of the Constitution reside with Congress, if anyone.
They also disputed the notion that the presidency is an office of the U.S., pointing to the way it is structured and the different oath the president takes.
Mr. Trump’s team says the effort to strike him from ballots is a desperation ploy by opponents who fear his political attraction. He holds a commanding lead in polls in the GOP primary and many polls also show him defeating Mr. Biden in a general election rematch.
The campaign said Friday that it is eager to have the justices weigh in.
“We are confident that the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all,” said Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesperson.
Mr. Trump’s opponents have launched challenges to his ballot position in several states. Colorado’s Supreme Court was the first to rule against the former president.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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