A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.
The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
“The court, with a 4-3 decision, concludes that Trump is ineligible to assume the presidency as per Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” stated the court in its majority opinion.
Colorado’s supreme court has reversed a district court judge’s decision that accused Trump of inciting an insurrection in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The district court judge had acknowledged Trump’s involvement but argued against barring him from the ballot, citing ambiguity about whether the provision was originally meant to address presidential eligibility.”
The court has temporarily suspended its decision until January 4, pending a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. Colorado officials emphasize the urgency of resolving the matter by January 5, the deadline for the state to finalize its presidential primary ballots. Colorado Supreme Court
The court’s majority expressed the gravity of its conclusions, acknowledging the weight of the questions at hand. They emphasized their commitment to applying the law impartially, unaffected by public sentiment surrounding the decisions they are mandated to make.
Trump’s legal team, vowing to challenge any disqualification, intends to appeal promptly to the U.S. Supreme Court, the ultimate authority on constitutional matters. In response to the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump’s legal spokeswoman, Alina Habba, condemned it as an attack on democracy, asserting confidence in the Supreme Court to overturn what they deem an unconstitutional order.
While Trump did not address the court’s decision at a rally in Iowa, his campaign circulated a fundraising email characterizing the ruling as “tyrannical.”
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, labeled the decision as “election interference” and announced the RNC’s legal team’s intention to support Trump in challenging the ruling.
Although Trump did not carry Colorado in 2020 and may not rely on the state for the upcoming election, the concern lies in the potential for other jurisdictions to follow suit, excluding Trump from crucial states. Numerous lawsuits nationwide aim to disqualify Trump under Section 3, a provision rooted in post-Civil War history to prevent former Confederates from reentering government. The section bars individuals from office if they swore allegiance to the Constitution but later engaged in insurrection or rebellion.
The Colorado case marks the first successful challenge. In November, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace found that Trump incited insurrection, but her ruling allowed him to remain on the ballot, citing a technical interpretation of Section 3. Trump’s legal team argued that the section’s language, referencing “officers of the United States,” excludes the president, who is not explicitly designated as an “officer of the United States” elsewhere in the document, and whose oath differs from the language specified in the section.