Trump
Trump: What Supreme Court’s ruling means
The United States’ Supreme Court 8Court sidesteps political landmines
Donald Trump described the ruling as a “big win for America”.
The US Supreme Court has struck down efforts by individual states to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president using an anti-insurrection constitutional clause. The top court ruled that only Congress has the power to strike the former president from the ballot under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
What is the effect of the ruling?
It avoids the “patchwork” scenario in which a candidate could be eligible in some states and disqualified in others. The unsigned, unanimous ruling is a significant win for Mr Trump, whose presidential campaign can now proceed without roadblocks erected by individual state courts or election officials.
But could Congress still act to remove Mr Trump?
With a closely divided Senate and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, it means the chances of Mr Trump being ruled ineligible under the 14th Amendment are essentially zero.
What did the judges leave undecided?They did not opine on whether Mr Trump had, in fact, engaged in insurrection on 6 January 2021. They didn’t discuss whether the attack on the US Capitol by the former president’s supporters constituted an insurrection at all (or was a riot, as characterised by one of Mr Trump’s lawyers). The court also didn’t delve into whether presidents are specifically exempt from the 14th Amendment’s insurrection language, another of Mr Trump’s legal arguments in challenging the Colorado decision.
Source: BBC