The Supreme Court is set to announce at least one opinion Monday morning, leading to speculation the justices could rule on Donald Trump’s eligibility for the Colorado ballot the day before Super Tuesday — when presidential primary elections are held in that state and more than a dozen others.
The high court took the unusual step Sunday of scheduling an opinion announcement for a day when it is not in session. The justices typically issue rulings from the bench, with the author of the majority opinion presenting a summary of the court’s decision. Instead, the court said opinions could be posted on its website Monday at 10 a.m.
Colorado’s top court ordered Trump, the Republican front-runner, off the ballot in December after finding that he engaged in insurrection around the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. The state court put its ruling on hold while litigation continued, and the former president’s name will appear on the state’s primary ballot. (If he was ultimately ruled ineligible, the votes for him would not count.)
Trump appealed the Colorado ruling to the Supreme Court, and his lawyers urged the justices to resolve the issue nationwide. Maine’s secretary of state and a judge in Illinois both reached the same conclusion about Trump’s eligibility as Colorado; those decisions are also on hold pending the Supreme Court decision.
With the primary season looming, the Supreme Court fast-tracked the case, one of several on the docket this term that will impact Trump’s political and legal future.
After oral argument on Feb. 8, it seemed likely that a broad majority of the court would decide to keep Trump on the ballot. Justices from across the ideological spectrum warned of troubling political ramifications if they did not reverse the Colorado ruling. Several justices suggested that a state court ruling initiated by voters in one state to bar him from federal office would throw the presidential race into extreme disarray.