On Tuesday, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the state’s primary election in March due to his conduct leading up to the attack of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021.
The question that remains is: Will the U.S. Supreme Court let Colorado’s decision stand?
The Colorado Supreme Court argues that the former president is ineligible to be placed on the ballot based on a clause from the 14th Amendment, which was established after the Civil War.
The clause 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.”
Put simply, no elected official can engage in “insurrection or rebellion” against the government during or after their term, and then hold another office. The only way that such a person could be deemed eligible to hold office again would be through a super-majority vote in each congressional house.
The Colorado Supreme Court holds that Trump’s behavior surrounding the events leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack violates this clause. Trump’s legal team plans to appeal this to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is likely to take the case.
Trump, meanwhile, is currently facing charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. With that case still in progress, it is uncertain how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Tuesday’s Colorado ruling.
There is a 6-3 conservative majority on the nation’s top court, with three of the justices having been appointed during Trump’s presidency.
If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Colorado opinion, Trump would be forbidden from holding public office. However, with the Jan. 6 trial pending and a conservative Supreme Court majority, Colorado’s ruling is likely to be overturned, allowing Trump to appear on every state’s ballot in the upcoming presidential election.
