The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared reluctant to take the extraordinary step of disqualifying former President Trump from appearing on the ballot during a historic oral argument in which the justices grilled lawyers about whether states have the authority to ban a candidate from running for office.
The justices spent almost no time debating whether Trump engaged in insurrection through his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, which various lawsuits contend requires Trump’s disqualification under the 14th Amendment.
Instead, the court during the two-hour argument largely delved into various threshold matters that would doom the various challenges without requiring the justices to reach that politically fraught question.
Several justices seemed sympathetic to Trump’s argument that states have no authority to disqualify candidates, while some also questioned whether the clause applies to the presidency, both findings that would preserve the former president’s eligibility nationwide.
“What’s a state doing deciding who other citizens get to vote for president?” said Justice Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts raised concerns that, if the court disqualifies Trump, other states may move in “very quick order” to boot Democratic candidates from the ballot.
“That’s a pretty daunting consequence,” said Roberts.
The Civil War-era provision prevents individuals who served as an “officer of the United States” and then engaged in insurrection from holding federal office, unless Congress votes to lift their disqualification.
Originally designed to keep ex-Confederates from returning to power, the clause fell dormant for decades before anti-Trump voters and groups began filing dozens of lawsuits contending Trump’s actions surrounding Jan. 6 should disqualify him from seeking a second White House term.
The Supreme Court agreed to take up the weighty dispute of Trump’s disqualification after Colorado’s top court in December ruled 4-3 that Trump was ineligible for the state’s primary ballot, the first state to do so.
Four Republican and two independent voters had challenged Trump’s eligibility in the state with backing from watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Maine disqualified Trump days later, while dozens of other challenges across the country failed.
The justices’ decision is now poised to provide a national resolution to the various cases, thrusting the high court into the center of the 2024 race as they weigh in on the former president’s status nationally. Although the conservative-majority court includes three of Trump’s own appointees, the court has regularly ruled against the former president.
Until the Supreme Court reaches its decision, Trump’s name will remain on ballots, even in the two states where he was deemed disqualified.
The high court is hearing the case on an expedited timeline, meaning a decision could come within weeks, even before voters in most states prepare to head to the polls, although some states have already begun printing their ballots.
DEVELOPING