The Supreme Court opinion that cleared the way for Donald Trump to appear on 2024 ballots also left it up to Congress to act before the Constitution’s so-called “Insurrection Clause” could be enforced — making it unlikely the issue will be reopened anytime soon.
The justices unanimously agreed that states can’t bar presidential candidates from appearing on ballots because of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which aims to prevent people who previously took an oath to support the Constitution from holding office if they have “engaged in insurrection.”
But a smaller majority of justices also described how the Constitution leaves it to Congress to pass legislation to allow enforcement of Section 3, which appears unlikely and still would not be guaranteed to survive a court challenge, legal and congressional experts said.
