The Supreme Court today ruled unanimously that states may not exclude Donald Trump from this year's presidential ballot based on the claim that he "engaged in insurrection" by inciting the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. "Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 [of the 14th Amendment] against federal officeholders and candidates," the Court says in Trump v. Anderson, the Colorado Supreme Court erred by applying that provision to the former president and barring him from the ballot.
That conclusion is not suprising given the misgivings the justices expressed when they considered the case last month. The issue that drew the most attention during oral arguments was whether states have the authority to independently enforce Section 3 in federal elections. By focusing on that question, the Court avoids delving into the issue of how to characterize the Capitol riot or Trump's role in it.
