State lawmakers push for a court ruling on Trump's eligibility
Nine California lawmakers asked the state's attorney general in a letter Monday to seek a court opinion on whether former President Donald Trump should be excluded from Republican primary ballots under the 14th Amendment.
The letter is part of an escalating effort across multiple states to establish whether Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election — including his actions before and during his supporters' storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — disqualify him from the presidency under the amendment. It says that anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution after taking an oath to defend it is ineligible to hold office.
“The purpose of this letter is to request in haste the office of the attorney general seek the court opinion as to whether or not Donald J. Trump should be removed from the ballot of the presidential primary election scheduled in California on March 5, 2024,” the letter says. It describes Trump's actions and tells Attorney General Rob Bonta, “You are uniquely positioned to proactively seek the court's opinion to confirm Mr. Trump's inability to hold office given these facts.”
Eight members of the California Assembly — Mike Fong, Mike Gipson, Corey Jackson, Alex Lee, Evan Low, Kevin McCarty, Stephanie Nguyen and Philip Ting — and one member of the California Senate, Josh Becker, signed the letter. All nine are Democrats.
Low, who wrote the letter, said that he saw calls for secretaries of state to unilaterally remove Trump from ballots as politically problematic and arguably antidemocratic, and that ordinary lawsuits would not resolve the question quickly enough. California law requires the secretary of state to announce by Dec. 8 which candidates are eligible for the ballot.
“Having one official do it themselves in their own interpretation is politically not expedient, nor does it help on the division of our democracy,” he said, expressing concern about violence from the right if officials acted unilaterally.
“This naturally will be seen as a political effort, but again that's why the court's opinion will be incredibly important.”
Low said he and the other lawmakers were “trying to not make this a political issue but rather a constitutionality issue.”
They believe, based on conversations with legal advisers, that Bonta has the ability to seek declaratory relief, essentially asking a court to tell him what his legal obligations are outside the context of a traditional lawsuit. The letter did not identify a specific court.
A spokesperson for Bonta said: “We are aware of the letter and will review the request internally. There is no denying that Donald Trump has engaged in behavior that is unacceptable and unbecoming of any leader — let alone a president of the United States. Beyond that, we have no additional comment.”
Even if a court ruled that Trump were ineligible, it would not definitively resolve the question. Trump or his campaign would be certain to appeal, and the Supreme Court would most likely have the final say.