Barring oath-breaking insurrectionists from office
The deck, of course, is stacked.
With former President Donald Trump on the precipice of possibly becoming president again, let’s recall that he’s on the 2024 ballot thanks partly to the Supreme Court.
I’m not talking about the ruling granting him broad criminal immunity. Though the Roberts Court’s handling of that appeal helped Trump push off a trial in the federal election interference case — possibly forever, if he wins the election and deploys his reacquired presidential power to crush it.
I’m talking about another Jan. 6-related appeal from the last Supreme Court term, one that more directly positioned the Republican to take office again: Trump v. Anderson.
It was there that the justices reversed the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to keep the former president from the ballot. The case was technically about one state during the primary process, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling effectively scrapped nationwide efforts to enforce the constitutional provision barring oath-breaking insurrectionists from office.
Which, I have to say, I’ve never been able to understand and probably never will. He broke his oath and he urged the volunteer insurrectionists to insurrect on his behalf. You’d think that would be enough.
As a reminder, here’s what that post-Civil War provision, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, says:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Aid and comfort. He gave lots of aid and comfort. He urged them on. The only reason he didn’t rush over there to join them is because the Secret Service wouldn’t let him.
The GOP and SCOTUS did a nice two step on America there. Mitch McConnell argued that because Trump had left office by the time of the impeachment vote it was inappropriate to impeach him, and that criminal al prosecution was the appropriate way to hold him accountable. SCOTUS has determined that because he hasn’t been impeached or found criminally liable (yet) s3, 14A doesn’t apply. The subsequent SCOTUS ruling that Trump may be functionally immune is just the icing on the cake. They’re really relying on Democratic politicians and voters playing by the rules of normal political behaviour and not doing what Trump is proudly declaring he will.