Trump v. Anderson
Headline: Court blocks Colorado from removing a former President from the primary ballot, ruling that states cannot enforce the Constitution’s insurrection ban against federal candidates and leaving enforcement to Congress.
Holding: Because the Constitution assigns enforcement of Section 3 to Congress, States may not use that provision to disqualify federal candidates, including Presidential candidates, from the ballot.
- Prevents states from removing federal candidates from the ballot under Section 3.
- Leaves Congress responsible for enforcing insurrection-based disqualifications.
- Reverses Colorado’s order and restores the former President’s ballot eligibility in Colorado.
Summary
Background
A group of Colorado voters sued to keep a former President off the State’s 2024 Republican primary ballot, arguing that his conduct around January 6, 2021, made him ineligible under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. A state trial court found he had “engaged in insurrection” but denied the petition on a technical ground about the Presidency. The Colorado Supreme Court disagreed and ordered the Colorado secretary of state not to list his name or count write-in votes, and the State’s action was stayed pending review by this Court.
Reasoning
The key question was whether a State may apply Section 3 to bar a person from a federal office or federal ballot. The majority held that States may enforce Section 3 against state offices, but they lack constitutional authority to enforce it against federal offices or candidates—especially the Presidency. The Court explained that the Fourteenth Amendment and history assign enforcement of Section 3 to Congress, that Congress historically acted to implement disqualification, and that state-by-state enforcement would risk a chaotic, patchwork result in national elections.
Real world impact
As a result, Colorado’s order cannot stand and the former President must remain eligible for the State’s primary ballot unless Congress acts. The decision prevents individual States from excluding federal candidates under Section 3 and shifts responsibility for any disqualification process to Congress. The Court issued its reversal and directed the mandate to issue at once.
Dissents or concurrances
All nine Justices agreed on the outcome, but some wrote separately. Justice Barrett concurred but would decide only the Presidency issue; Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson concurred in the judgment alone and urged narrower, more restrained reasoning.
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