Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 2.0

2 

TRUMP v. ANDERSON 

Per Curiam 

President Trump’s defeat in the 2020 Presidential election, 
he disrupted the peaceful transfer of power by intentionally 
organizing and inciting the crowd that breached the Capitol 
as Congress met to certify the election results on January
6, 2021.  One consequence of those actions, the respondents 
maintain, is that former President Trump is constitution-
ally ineligible to serve as President again. 

Their theory turns on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amend-

ment.  Section 3 provides: 

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con-
gress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or
hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United 
States,  or  under  any  State,  who,  having  previously 
taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer 
of the United States, or as a member of any State leg-
islature,  or  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.  But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of
each House, remove such disability.” 

According to the respondents, Section 3 applies to the for-
mer President because after taking the Presidential oath in 
2017, he intentionally incited the breaching of the Capitol 
on January 6 in order to retain power.  They claim that he
is therefore not a qualified candidate, and that as a result,
the  Colorado  secretary  of  state  may  not  place  him  on  the
primary  ballot.    See  Colo.  Rev.  Stat.  §§1–1–113(1),  1–4–
1101(1), 1–4–1201, 1–4–1203(2)(a), 1–4–1204 (2023). 

After a five-day trial, the state District Court found that
former  President  Trump  had  “engaged  in  insurrection”
within the meaning of Section 3, but nonetheless denied the 
respondents’ petition.  The court held that Section 3 did not 
apply  because  the  Presidency,  which  Section  3  does  not 
mention  by  name,  is  not  an  “office  . . .  under  the  United