The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that Donald Trump can remain on the electoral ballot in Colorado, giving him a major victory.
It was a fatal blow to a group of states trying to kick Trump off the ballot and came just 24 hours before 15 states were set to vote on Super Tuesday.
In an immediate response, Trump declared on his Truth Social network: “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”
The conservative-majority court’s 9-0 decision in the high-stakes case means the Republican front-runner’s name will appear on ballots tomorrow during Colorado’s Republican primaries.
It also effectively ends efforts in other states, including Illinois and Maine, to disqualify him from running in the 2024 general election, claiming his conduct on Jan. 6 disqualified him from office.
The former president, 77, has now cleared one of the obstacles facing his campaign ahead of his likely rematch with President Joe Biden in November’s general election.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Donald Trump can remain on the electoral ballot, in a fatal blow to the states trying to oust him and just 24 hours before 15 states vote for Super Tuesday.
The justices reversed an earlier ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that barred Trump from voting in that state.
Colorado ruled that Trump was disbarred under the so-called “insurrection clause” – Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The Civil War amendment bars those “engaged in insurrection” from holding federal office.
In a 20-page ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court justices said that only Congress can decide whether or not Trump is eligible to run for office.
“States may not unilaterally disqualify Donald Trump from voting,” the ruling read. “The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling is overturned.
“The responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates lies with Congress, not the States. Therefore, the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling cannot stand. All nine members of the Court of Auditors agree with that result.’
The justices added: “Because the Constitution makes Congress, not the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.
“Nothing in the Constitution requires us to endure such chaos.
‘This case raises the question of whether the States, in addition to Congress, can also enforce Section 3. We conclude that States may disqualify persons who hold or attempt to hold state office.
“But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”
The justices also warned against pursuing the insurrection clause after the election.
They wrote: “The disruption would be all the more acute – wiping out the votes of millions and changing the election outcome – if an attempt were made to enforce Section 3 after the nation has voted.”
Trump has dominated the Republican primaries so far, with his latest rival Nikki Haley winning just one contest in Washington DC on Sunday night, involving just over 2,000 voters.
As Haley celebrated the victory, the Supreme Court issued a surprise update saying the opinions would be released Monday, just 24 hours before Colorado went to the polls in the Republican party’s primary.
Trump was initially removed from the ballots in Colorado, Maine and Illinois for violating the “insurrection” clause of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
The decisions were based on the argument that Trump should be barred from holding federal office because he “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” on January 6, 2021.
Trump then challenged the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, leading to Monday’s decision.
Ironically, Trump likely would have faced the start of his first criminal trial in the January 6 federal case on Monday had he not claimed he is immune from prosecution.
That case is also being heard by the Supreme Court and will have huge implications for the timeline of his criminal cases and whether he can stand trial for certain crimes.
He states that he cannot be prosecuted because he
Colorado will hold its presidential election on Tuesday, March 5.
Voting in the state of Colorado began in February, when 831,705 voters had already cast their ballots. according tog to the State Secretary. Trump’s name remained on the ballot.
The Supreme Court’s decision effectively ends a legal effort by left-wing activists to remove Trump from the ballot in some states, aiming to prevent him from running a successful presidential campaign in 2024.
The Colorado lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
The conservative-majority court’s decision means the Republican frontrunner’s name will appear on Colorado primary election ballots.
Judges on the court expressed skepticism during oral arguments in February that Trump could be barred from reading the Constitution
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold urged the Supreme Court to keep Trump off the ballot so “votes are not wasted on ineligible candidates”
The cases cite Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from holding federal office.
They argued that Trump was guilty of insurrection for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill, which protested the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has consistently urged the US Supreme Court to keep Trump off the ballot.
In a letter to the Supreme Court in January, she called the presidential candidate an “ineligible insurrectionist.”
She added that it was her duty to protect the “maximum right” of Coloradans to vote.
Her responsibility, she added, was to ensure that “votes are not wasted on ineligible candidates.”
The Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism during oral arguments in February that Trump could be barred from reviewing the Constitution.
They argued that states had the legal standing to enforce Section 3, citing the danger that one state could decide who could be the president of the United States.
Three of the justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – were nominated by Trump.