February 08, 2024 09:43 AM UTC

Colorado's Big Day At SCOTUS

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Colorado’s attorneys in Trump v. Anderson face a hard SCOTUS grilling, NBC News reports:

The Supreme Court on Thursday signaled deep skepticism that Colorado had the power to remove former President Donald Trump from the Republican primary ballot because of his actions trying to overturn the 2020 election results.

A majority of the justices appeared during the two-hour argument to think that states do not have a role in deciding whether a presidential candidate can be barred from running under a provision of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that bars people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.

Justices raised concerns about states reaching different conclusions on whether a candidate could run and several indicated that only Congress could enforce the provision at issue…

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As the Washington Post reports, Colorado’s scrappy underdog bid to enforce the U.S. Constitution against ex-President Donald Trump, disqualifying Trump from Colorado’s ballot under the 14th Amendment’s prohibition of insurrectionists playing democracy after violating their oaths, is being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this morning:

The justices are reviewing a ruling from Colorado’s top court that declared the leading Republican presidential candidate ineligible for a second term because of a post-Civil War provision of the U.S. Constitution that disqualifies insurrectionists. Trump’s attorney argued that the provision does not apply to the president and that Congress would have to pass specific legislation authorizing states to bar candidates from the ballot. Some justices appeared skeptical of those claims, pointing out that the 14th Amendment is “self-executing” and that state officials have previously decided candidates are not qualified to hold office without waiting for Congress to act.

The Supreme Court agreed to fast-track the case and is expected to resolve the issue for all states with similar challenges to Trump’s eligibility. Oral arguments began shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern time and are likely to last at least 90 minutes.

Watch this space for local reactions and updates as they come in.

Whatever happens next, let it be known that the state of Colorado did its constitutional duty.