March 5, 2024 |
Photo – Artist rendition of Donald Trump – Courtesy pixabay.com
Wyoming’s top state and federal officials applauded Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that liberal states like Colorado cannot remove Donald Trump from this year’s presidential election ballot.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously – 9 to 0 –that only Congress can disqualify a candidate from the ballot using the 14th Amendment’s “Insurrection Clause.” Yesterday’s ruling from the high court overturned a 4-3 opinion in December from the Colorado Supreme Court that the provision prohibits former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot for the presidency in 2024.
The court’s decision came on the eve of Super Tuesday, when Colorado voters will join more than a dozen other states today in casting their primary ballots for president.
The court unanimously agreed that a singular state has no unilateral authority to disqualify federal candidates from the ballot.
The case came down to a simple question, who can enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment—the federal government or the states.
The Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, ratified by the States in 1868, expanded federal power at the expense of state autonomy, fundamentally altering the balance of power between Washington and the states.
In its decision, the Court wrote, “We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.”
Former President Donald Trump heralded the pivotal decision from Mar-A-Lago, expressing hope that it will provide national unity.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, wrote, “All nine Justices agree on the outcome of this case. That is the message Americans should take home.”
Here at home, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso welcomed the decision.
“The Supreme Court unanimously tossed out an absurd political attempt to block President Donald Trump from the ballot,” the statement from Wyoming’s senior senator reads. “Today’s decision means that liberal activists will not silence American voters this November. Millions of voters will rightly decide our next president at the ballot box.”
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman called it a “common sense decision.”
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who had filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, was pleased with the decision.
Not so happy are Congressional Democrats, who say they are looking for a legislative remedy in the name of democracy to keep Trump off the ballot this year.
One Democrat did concede defeat. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows withdrew her previous determination that Trump should be banned from appearing on the ballot of the New England state.
