Former President Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Colorado court’s landmark ruling disqualifying him from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban.
“The Colorado Supreme Court has no authority to deny President Trump access to the ballot,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the petition.
“By doing so, the Colorado Supreme Court has usurped Congressional authority and misinterpreted and misapplied the text of section 3.”
The brief also presents the high court with the question, “Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in ordering President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot?”
As The Hill reports, Trump’s petition asks that the Supreme Court agree to take up the case and immediately reverse the Colorado ruling in a summary decision without oral argument.
“In our system of ‘government of the people, by the people, [and] for the people,’ Colorado’s ruling is not and cannot be correct,” the petition reads.
“This Court should grant certiorari to consider this question of paramount importance, summarily reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, and return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters.”
The other parties in the case previously agreed the justices should hear the case on an expedited schedule, so a decision may be issued before most states’ primaries, but they did not suggest the high court forgo the step of holding oral arguments.
Trump's call follows the Colorado Republican Party, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold's (the original defendant in the case), and six voters, request that the U.S. Supreme Court review the case on an expedited basis and give American voters a final answer on whether President Trump is eligible as a candidate.
“This Court’s resolution of the matter is important to ensure that all Coloradans’ votes are cast only for candidates who are qualified to hold the office of president,” the brief reads.
“Additionally, the Secretary asks the Court to resolve the question of Trump’s eligibility as expeditiously as possible in light of the upcoming election calendar. This will ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, all Coloradans know whether Trump is eligible to be elected president at the time they cast their ballots.”
The Colorado GOP had presented the Supreme Court with three questions:
whether Section 3 applies to presidents,
whether Section 3 is self-executing and allows individual states to decide to remove candidates without input from Congress,
and whether denying a political party the right to put any candidates it chooses on the primary ballot violates the First Amendment.
The Colorado court had put its ruling on hold until tomorrow (Thursday), so Trump could seek review from the Supreme Court.
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, the decision will be stayed until after the justices decide the case on the merits.
“The court can’t let state supreme courts make a patchwork of decisions,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, after Colorado’s Dec. 19 ruling.
“The case brings up an important federal constitutional question with time-sensitive consequences. They will need to act, and act quickly.”
And as Trump pushed SCOTUS for an expeditious decision, the former president has captured the endorsements off all senior members of House GOP leadership.
As Jackson Richman reports at The Epoch Times, House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has endorsed former President Donald Trump’s comeback bid - the last House GOP leadership holdout to endorse the former president, who dominates the polls.
“[President Joe Biden’s] failed policies have left Minnesotans to grapple with double-digit inflation, higher taxes, and a border crisis that has turned every community into a border community,” he said in a Jan. 3 statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.“Minnesotans and all Americans deserve better,” Mr. Emmer wrote. “It is time for Republicans to come together in support of a leader who has what it takes to get our country back on track. We stand together to endorse Donald J. Trump for President.”
President Trump has captured the endorsements of all senior members of House GOP leadership: Mr. Emmer, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
So, where do we stand?
Simple:
If the Supreme Court rejects the case by tomorrow (Jan. 4), President Trump will be removed from the primary ballot.
If it rejects the case later, President Trump will remain on the Colorado primary ballot but the issues presented will remain open questions.
It’s unlikely the Supreme Court will resolve Trump’s appeal before then, meaning he will likely appear on the primary ballots regardless.
On Jan. 20, county clerks will mail out the ballots to military and oversees voters, and between Feb. 12 and Feb. 16, ballots are mailed to other active registered voters.
The Colorado primary will be held on March 5.
