5–4 Supreme Court Majority Says States Can’t Remove Any Federal Candidate From Ballots

As the Supreme Court unanimously agreed to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that blocked former President Donald Trump from access to the ballot, a 5–4 majority concurrently ruled that states do not have the power to enforce the 14th Amendment’s ban on federal candidates who engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion.” Chief Justice John Roberts as well as Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas, who were nominated by Republican presidents, affirmed that states can’t remove a federal officer from ballots under the 14th Amendment, and especially the president. They wrote that in order to do so, Congress must first pass legislation....