Donald Trump cleared to run for president after Supreme Court victory. Ruling means Republican candidate will appear on Colorado ballot and is expected to secure party nomination on Super Tuesday
States cannot ban Donald Trump from running for president and he will appear on the ballot in Tuesday’s Colorado primary, America’s highest court has ruled.
The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for the former president, who is expected to sew up the Republican nomination during the Super Tuesday contest.
In an opinion published on Monday, the court reversed the earlier Colorado ruling “because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the states, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates”.
Section 3 is a provision of the 14th Amendment adopted after the Civil War in 1868 which is meant to keep former officeholders who “engaged in insurrection” from ever regaining power.
The Supreme Court concluded that states can “disqualify persons from holding or attempting to hold state office”.
But it found that “states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency”.
