Supreme Court expected to rule Monday on whether Trump can be barred from 2024 ballot
The Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling Monday morning on former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on Colorado’s 2024 primary ballot.
The high court said in a statement Sunday that it would publish at least one decision Monday, to be posted online at 10 a.m., with the ruling expected to be about the landmark ballot case.
Trump, 77, and his lawyers are hoping the justices will overturn the the Dec. 19 decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court that found the former president ineligible for the March 5 GOP contest by virtue of violating the Constitution’s so-called “Insurrection Clause” during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The Supreme Court’s ruling will decide if the GOP frontrunner can appear on the Colorado ballot before the looming Super Tuesday primaries, with the case having implications on whether he can run in the general election.
The Supreme Court Justices are not scheduled to return to the courtroom until March 15, so the court “will not take the bench” on Monday when it announces its ruling on the case.
The opinion will be posted online starting 10 a.m.
Trump’s legal team has argued that it is up to Congress, not the states, to enforce the “Insurrection Clause,” and that the provision does not apply to the office of president.
The leading Republican candidate has also maintained that he did not engage in an insurrection when hundreds of his allies stormed the Capitol and disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
The Supreme Court has previously signaled that it may side with Trump during oral arguments, with Chief Justice John Roberts openly expressing worries that upholding Colorado’s ruling would open the door to red and blue states removing politicians of opposing parties from the ballot on a whim.
“It’ll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election. That’s a pretty daunting consequence,” Roberts noted.
Along with the ballot case, the Supreme Court is also considering a second case on whether Trump is immune from criminal charges alleging he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.
In April, the court also will hear an appeal from one of the more than 1,200 people charged in the Capitol riot.
The case could upend a charge prosecutors have brought against more than 300 people, including Trump.
