Republicans want SCOTUS to decide all 14th Amendment ballot challenges

A group of Republican senators introduced a bill that would make the Supreme Court the sole decision-maker in cases that challenge a presidential candidate’s ballot eligibility under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The move comes after Colorado’s Supreme Court and Maine’s secretary of state determined that Donald Trump incited an insurrection with his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 riot and removed him from their ballots.

The California secretary of state and Oregon’s Supreme Court allowed Trump to remain on the ballot. According to the New York Times, there are about a dozen other challenges to Trump’s candidacy pending around the country.

The 14th amendment states, “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military … who, having previously taken an oath…as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

The senators introduced the Constitutional Election Integrity Act, which states the Supreme Court has the sole jurisdiction over 14th Amendment claims.

If the bill is passed, when a challenge is made, a three-judge panel on a federal district court would make findings of fact, which would be transmitted to the Supreme Court. The justices would then have to review it and make a ruling on an expedited basis.

The bill would halt federal funds for election management in states that deny an eligible presidential candidate from the ballot on the grounds of the 14th Amendment.

“Regardless of whether you support or oppose former President Donald Trump, it is outrageous to see left-wing activists make a mockery of our political system by scheming with partisan state officials and pressuring judges to remove him from the ballot,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. said in a statement. “American voters, not partisan activists, should decide who we elect as our President.” 

Tillis introduced the bill along with Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ted Budd, R-N.C., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.

“Presidential elections are determined by the American people, not liberal political activists with a grudge,” Mullin said in a statement.  

The bill was introduced in the Senate which is controlled by Democrats. After the riot in 2021, there were multiple members of the Senate Democratic caucus who wanted to pass a resolution barring Trump from any future ballots on 14th Amendment grounds. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn’t rule that out at the time, so Republicans have a tough hill to climb to get this bill passed.