Pressure on Supreme Court to Settle Trump Issue Intensifies

Now that Maine has become the second state to kick Donald Trump off the ballot, the fallout is similar to the one that ensued after Colorado became the first. But now everything is amplified by two. As the New York Times reports, the Maine decision puts even more pressure on the Supreme Court to decide quickly whether the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause can be used against the former president, and that decision will be its "most politically momentous" since the court's Bush v. Gore ruling in the 2000 election. While some states have opted not to exclude Trump from the ballot, more than a dozen others have lawsuits pending, and a Supreme Court ruling could resolve the matter once and for all, notes the Washington Post.

• In defense: Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows defended her decision in an interview with the BBC. She pointed out that she was legally bound to review Trump's qualifications to be on the ballot once a formal complaint was registered with her office. "That's my sacred obligation," she said, adding that both sides were represented by attorneys. Of the decision itself, she said it's "my duty to uphold the Constitution." The former Democratic state lawmaker also said her "political affiliation or prior experience" played no role in her decision.

• DeSantis: Appearing on Fox News, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that the Maine decision and others like it open "Pandora's box" in American politics, per the Guardian. "Can you have a Republican secretary of state disqualify Biden from the ballot?"
• Christie: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie complained to Politico that the Maine decision will only strengthen Trump by making him a "martyr." He added that the courts should butt out. "This should be decided by the voters of the United States." (Nikki Haley made a similar point and said she would pardon Trump.)
• Valid: At Reason, Ilya Somin writes in a legal analysis that the Maine ruling is "sound" and should be upheld by the Supreme Court. Somin adds that the ruling makes it more likely other states will follow suit. Former Nixon White House attorney John Dean similarly called the Maine ruling "very solid" in a CNN interview and asserted that "Trump's in trouble," per the Hill. "There was ample due process in this proceeding, and they just lost by a straight, honest reading of the 14th Amendment."
• Not valid: At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey writes that Maine and Colorado officials are wrong and that the Supreme Court better move quickly. "We don't find people guilty of crimes in this country without criminal trials as structured by Article III Section 2 and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments," he writes. "And we don't allow partisan officers in states to decree that candidates they detest are disqualified from the ballot."
• Bipartisan critics: GOP Maine Sen. Susan Collins opposes the ruling out of her state and called for the Supreme Court to overturn it. "Maine voters should decide who wins the election—not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature," she tweeted. Maine Democratic congressman Jared Goldman, who voted to impeach Trump, also criticized it. "We are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot," he said, per Axios.

(More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)