Trump challenge to Colorado ballot ban

The Supreme Court is set Thursday morning to hear oral arguments on an effort by former President Donald Trump to reverse a ruling by Colorado’s top court barring him from that state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot.

The arguments, which are expected to last several hours, come as Trump has a commanding lead in the national GOP primary race, with a long-shot bid from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appearing to be the only potential stumbling block to him securing the party’s nomination this summer.

The Colorado Supreme Court in December ruled that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president because he “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the 2021 Capitol riot as part of his effort to reverse his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

That bombshell 4-3 ruling was based on Section Three of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states “no person” can serve as an officer of the United States who, having previously taken an oath of federal office, “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S.

Six Republican and unaffiliated voters in Colorado had filed the lawsuit that led to the state Supreme Court ruling.

Trump’s lawyers in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court last month argued that the Colorado court decision was “based on a dubious interpretation” of Section Three, while noting that similar efforts to bar Trump from presidential ballots are underway in more than 30 states.

The U.S. Supreme Court “should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s…