Former President Donald Trump has time and again largely avoided political accountability, which has granted an aura of invincibility to his brazenness. So the hope that the text of the Constitution might halt his return to power was always a dim glimmer. The Supreme Court on Monday snuffed that hope out, issuing a ruling that washed their hands of the matter entirely.
The court declared unanimously that Colorado erred in booting Trump off the state’s primary ballot, overturning the state’s supreme court. The justices concluded that the states lack the authority to enforce the disqualification clause of the 14th Amendment, drafted in the aftermath of the Civil War to block former insurrectionists from holding office, against federal candidates. Five of the justices further asserted that that power must solely lie with Congress and requires new legislation. They made this assertion over the objections of the court’s liberal wing and, to a lesser extent, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom felt the court need not decide that question. With this ruling, the court found the perfect loophole to avoid ruling on Trump’s eligibility outright — and it lines up Congress to follow suit in the coming months, clearing the path for Trump’s triumphant victory over the rule of law.
Five of the justices further asserted that that power must solely lie with Congress and requires new legislation.
The thrust of the court’s unanimous holding is logical. The patchwork of state election laws has hampered the push to invoke the 14th Amendment from the beginning, as not all secretaries of state are equally empowered to judge candidates’ qualifications. Colorado law specifically grants this power to its secretary of state, leading to the state supreme court decision that the justices overturned on Monday. The justices determined that the only way to evenly apply disqualification at the federal level is to find that no state should have that power.
In focusing on this…
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