Justices skeptical of 14th Amendment case banning Trump from ballot: Key takeaways

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday appeared highly critical of a Colorado Supreme Court decision that would ban former President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 GOP primary ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

During more than two hours of oral argument in the historic case Trump v. Anderson, each of the court's nine justices expressed skepticism that an individual state has the authority to deny a candidate for federal office from the ballot as an «insurrectionist.»

“It just doesn't seem like a state call,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said.

“Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination not only for their own citizens, but for the rest of the nation?” said Justice Elena Kagan.

While the court's ultimate decision is not always clear based on the questions raised during a hearing, it appeared likely that a majority of the court is ready to reverse the Colorado decision and put an end to efforts nationwide seeking to disqualify Trump under the rarely used, 150-year-old constitutional provision.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was drafted after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from holding positions across government. It reads no person who took an oath as an «officer of the United States» who then «engaged in insurrection» can hold an office «under the United States» in the future.

Only Congress, it adds, can remove the disqualification by two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate. It does not spell out who gets to decide when someone has «engaged in insurrection» or how. The nation's highest court has never before examined the issue.

“Well, when you look at Section 3, the term insurrection jumps out. And the questions are: What does that mean? How do you define it? Who decides?