- The Colorado Supreme Court ordered that Donald Trump be removed from the state’s presidential primary on December 19
- They said he violated the 14th Amendment by participating in an insurrection leading up to the events of January 6
- Trump has called the Colorado court’s measure “election interference.”
More than 175 Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court urging them to keep Donald Trump on the ballot in Colorado after the state’s Supreme Court shockingly impeached the former president.
The Colorado Supreme Court ordered Donald Trump removed from the state’s presidential primary on December 19, saying he violated the 14th Amendment by participating in an insurrection ahead of the events of January 6.
The letter was signed by as many as 179 Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and more.
They accuse the Colorado Supreme Court of taking an overly “broad” view of the 14th Amendment language “participating in insurrection.”
Furthermore, they argue that Congress has the power to remove a president from office – and not the courts.
The Republicans conclude that the court in Colorado should not have removed Trump from the ballot.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump participated in an insurrection on January 6
Trump and his legal team will make arguments before the Supreme Court in February
“As elected officials, we have a vested interest in ensuring that the rules for eligibility for federal office are clear, objective, and neutral, rather than malleable and conveniently applied to ensnare political opponents,” the letter said.
Specifically, the case centers on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone serving as an “officer of the United States” who has previously sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution from holding “any office” if he or she is “involved has been involved in an uprising’. .’
Trump called the Colorado court’s measure “election interference” in a post on his TruthSocial platform.
Following the state court ruling, the Supreme Court granted a petition for review filed by the former president and expedited the case.
Oral arguments in the case will take place on February 8.
The Supreme Court has granted a request for review filed by former President Trump on January 5
The case centers on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars candidates previously involved in insurrection from holding office.
“The radical left consistently does what they claim their opponents do,” Cruz wrote in a statement. “While President Biden and his allies claim to be defending democracy, their supporters are trying to undermine democracy by banning Biden’s likely opponent in the general election from appearing on the ballot.”
Scalise similarly said in a statement: “President Biden has based his reelection efforts on the idea that he is protecting democracy, but he and his radical allies are trying to undermine the central component of the democratic process – the power of the people to elect their leaders to choose. through elections.’
“Not only does the Colorado Supreme Court have no authority to remove President Trump from the ballot in the 2024 presidential election, but the broad and ill-defined justifications they use could easily be abused in the future to prevent political opponents from leaving office.” accept,” his statement continued.
In Maine, Trump was similarly removed from the ballot in December after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows claimed he had violated the 14th Amendment.
However, a Maine judge this week postponed the decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to rule on a similar case in Colorado.