Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and 177 other Republicans in Washington signed an amicus brief Thursday to the Supreme Court with arguments in favor of former President Donald Trump as he defends his eligibility for the 2024 presidential election ballot to the high court.
The brief for the Colorado ballot case blocking Trump from this year’s election argues the Colorado Supreme Court overstepped its bounds. The brief says the Colorado decision “tramples the prerogatives of members of Congress.”
/1🚨HISTORIC BRIEF — We just filed a brief with @BoydenGrayPLLC in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of @tedcruz @SteveScalise and 177 other members of Congress to defend Donald J. Trump’s right to remain on the Colorado ballot.
AFL is proud to represent: pic.twitter.com/1ad4xswxhH
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) January 18, 2024
“The court below raced past numerous textual and structural limitations on Section 3, which are primarily designed to ensure that Congress controls the enforcement and (if necessary) removal of Section 3’s ‘disability’ on holding office,” the brief says.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December that Trump is ineligible for the ballot because of Section 3 of Amendment 14 and the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill protests. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows issued a similar decision in her state, which she reportedly came to by watching YouTube clips.
Today, I joined over 170 other Republican leaders to file an amicus brief in the case Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson, et al.
My full statement here 👇 pic.twitter.com/jVSoSA1lXB
— Rep. Mike Flood (@USRepMikeFlood) January 18, 2024
“The radical left consistently does what they claim their opponents are doing. While President Biden and his allies claim they are defending democracy, their supporters are working to undermine democracy by banning Biden’s likely general election opponent from appearing on the ballot,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The American people see through this, and I’m confident the Supreme Court will as well,” Cruz added.
Rep. Scalise said in a press release Thursday that Democrats are undermining democracy, “President Biden has based his reelection effort on the notion that he is safeguarding democracy, but he and his radical allies are attempting to undermine the central component of the democratic process – the people’s power to choose their leaders through elections.”
The Louisiana congressman and Republican leader warned this is about protecting future elections, “Not only does the Colorado Supreme Court have no authority to remove President Trump from the ballot in the 2024 presidential election, but the broad and ill-defined justifications they use can easily be abused in the future to block political opponents from assuming office.”
