The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump’s Supreme Court ballot fight hit another procedural marker on Jan. 18, when his merits brief was due in Trump v. Anderson. The case is about whether he can stay on the Colorado Republican primary ballot after the state’s highest court said he was disqualified under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The timing was already set. On Jan. 5, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and put it on an accelerated schedule, setting oral argument for Feb. 8 and compressing the briefing calendar around that date. Trump’s opening brief was due Jan. 18, the respondents’ briefs were due Jan. 31, and any reply was due Feb. 5. The Court’s docket shows the case moving on a pace designed to get the issue in front of the justices quickly. citeturn0search0turn0search1

The dispute began with a Dec. 19, 2023 ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court, which said Trump should not appear on the Colorado Republican primary ballot. That decision, and the state court cases that followed, set up the federal question now before the justices: whether Section 3 bars him from running. The Supreme Court’s Jan. 5 order accepted review and set the argument date without waiting for the usual slower schedule. citeturn0search0turn0search1

By the time the Jan. 18 filing deadline arrived, the case was already moving on the Court’s timetable, not the campaign’s. The argument date was fixed, the briefing window was tight, and the ballot dispute had become a matter for the justices on an expedited track. citeturn0search0turn0search1turn0search2