With more 14th Amendment challenges to Trump expected, will the US Supreme Court step in?

Now that Maine has joined Colorado, becoming the second state to disqualify Donald Trump from GOP primary ballots under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — among more than 30 that have faced calls to do so — the U.S. Supreme Court is facing increased pressure to resolve conflicting rulings in the legal battle.

On Thursday, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced he was disqualified under the constitutional clause because of his activity surrounding the pro-Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Her decision came just over a week after Colorado’s Supreme Court issued a similar order finding Trump ineligible.

But both Maine and Colorado’s rulings are on temporary pause, barring possible reconsideration by higher courts. The Colorado Republican Party appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that state’s high court decision from earlier this week, and Trump’s lawyers say they will appeal as well.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the watchdog group representing the plaintiffs in the Colorado case, filed a motion to expedite the U.S. Supreme Court's review of their challenge following the Colorado Republican Party's appeal to the nation's highest court. They proposed a rushed timeline with briefs due on Jan. 8 and oral arguments on Jan. 19. «Doing so would give the Court time to issue a ruling before Colorado voters begin receiving their ballots on February 12 and well before Super Tuesday, March 5,» they wrote.

Meanwhile, the former president’s lawyers are also expected to file an appeal to Maine’s Superior Court on Tuesday, within the five-day outline dictated by Bellows in her Thursday decision.

Overall, the former president's eligibility under Section 3 to be on GOP primary ballots is