Nearly 200 Republicans in Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have signed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to keep former President Donald Trump on the 2024 ballot. .
The high court will hear oral arguments on February 8 in a challenge to a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that temporarily barred President Trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot for violating the Constitution's so-called “insurrection clause.” is scheduled to open.
Approximately 179 of the 269 Republican members of Congress signed a court brief supporting the former commander-in-chief.
“In times of polarization, it's easy to cast opposition rhetoric about election results that encourages others to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.” The 37-page preliminary document said:.
Lawmakers also argued that the ruling “short-circuited” Parliament's role.
They said the preconditions for removing Trump from the ballot (Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the disqualification clause) give Congress a say in that decision.
“As a member of parliament [we] “We have a strong interest in legitimizing and protecting the role of Congress in the context of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the brief reads.
They argued that “enforcement of Article III requires enactment of legislation by Congress” and that Congress could soften the expulsion.
“The Colorado Supreme Court short-circuited both of the Legislature’s roles,” they wrote.
The disqualification clause states, “No person shall hold any office, after taking an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, engage in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution, or render aid or comfort to its enemies. It is stipulated that “No.” about it. ”
But it added that Congress “may remove such obstacles by a two-thirds vote of each house.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) led the preliminary briefings in their respective chambers.
Signer McConnell (R-Ky.) is even one of President Trump's main opponents in the Senate.
Prominent Republicans who refused to sign the brief include Sens. Susan Collins (R-Mary.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.), and Mitt Romney (R-United States). It will be done.
The brief does not specifically state whether the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot was a riot, but notes that President Trump appealed to rioters via video to “go home now.” This casts some doubt on that idea.
“It is difficult to imagine that actual insurrectionists would immediately seek peace and encourage disbandment,” the Republican signatories argued.
in Separate court briefformer Rep. Peter Meyer (R-Mich.), an outspoken Trump critic, argued in favor of specifying Trump's voting access.
Following Colorado's 4-3 ruling last month, Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows also removed President Trump from the ballot, citing similar logic.
Trump similarly appealed, and a judge in Maine remanded or blocked the decision on Wednesday.
This means that, pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Mr. Trump will currently be recognized on the primary ballot for the March 5 Super Tuesday election in both Colorado and Maine.
Trump, the Republican front-runner, denounced efforts to remove him from the vote as election interference.
Efforts to keep Trump from voting in New Hampshire, Oregon, Michigan and Minnesota have so far failed.
