Legal experts reacted to the Supreme Court hearing on Colorado removing former President Donald Trump from the ballot on Thursday by saying it would most likely rule against the state.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in December that Trump cannot be on the state’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, but Trump appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments Thursday. The lawyers said the Supreme Court appeared likely to rule in favor of Trump and against Colorado based on how the lawyers performed and the justices’ lines of questioning, suggesting the court may rule unanimously or close to it. (RELATED: ‘I’m Not Gonna Say This Again’: Justice Gorsuch Chides Colorado Lawyer After Leaving Him Tongue-Tied)
EK: Why should a single state be able to decide who is president? Suggests national means needed to enforce section 3.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) February 8, 2024
“The argument is now over,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley posted. “The disqualification advocates may have expected a cold reception, but this was perfectly glacial. Notably, some of the toughest and most skeptical questions came from the left of the Court.”
Turley also said on Fox that the lawyer representing Colorado, Jason Murray, “had a real hard time” answering the justices’ questions.
He particularly found liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s questioning to be challenging to Murray. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan also came with tough questions, asking the Colorado lawyer whether a state should have the power to remove a national candidate from the ballot under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“I’m usually very wary about reading much into oral argument, but I think it’s clear that the Court is going to reverse the Colorado supreme court’s ruling below,” Ed Whelan, distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, posted. “Maybe unanimous. At least 8 justices.”
“I thought there was real consensus throughout the court, from beginning to end, all nine of them on the issue that the states do not have the authority to boot federal officials under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy said. “They were ready to allow that states could take care of their own officials but it seemed to me that there was consensus on that point.”
Turley similarly said he was expecting a unanimous or near-unanimous decision due to both liberal and conservative justices posing tough questions. Even left-of-center legal analysts said they think the Court will rule against Colorado following the oral arguments.
“I have watched over 400 Supreme Court arguments. I have done 50 myself. I would tell you, this argument did not go well for the Trump challengers. And that’s to put it mildly. I probably have some other adjectives that I won’t say on air,” former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal said on MSNBC.
Moreover, CNN legal analyst Steve Vladeck posted that he would wager that at least seven of the justices will rule against Colorado.
“That’s just a prediction based on the oral argument—not what I think the Court *ought* to do,” he added.
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