As failed one-term former president Donald Trump waits to see what happens with the U.S. District Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. regarding whether or not he can legally be removed from the ballot in the upcoming election, there are two other key Republicans who are also wondering what could happen to them if the Supreme Court winds up taking the case and rules that Trump is indeed an insurrectionist.
Those two members of the GOP are Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) and Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), according to an illuminating article from MSNBC opinion writer and editor Hayes Brown.
Brown notes that over 200 members of Congress signed on to an amicus brief that supports Trump.
While the GOP lawmakers’ amicus brief is better drafted than most of Trump’s filings, it can’t be ignored that there’s a deeply self-serving element to their arguments. That’s especially true for those members who, under the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, could also credibly be described as having ‘engaged in insurrection’ — and thus theoretically be disqualified from holding office.
The deepest fears of federal elected officials such as Cruz and Jordan can be found in one specific section of the brief, which pulls the curtain back on what everyone who played a role in January 6 fears most, Brown adds.
The self-interested lawmakers give up the game with this line from the brief: ‘Although not directly relevant to President Trump, the Colorado Supreme Court would give itself the power to judge the qualifications of those who would be elected to the House or Senate.’ That would be especially troubling for Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona. The three of them were knee-deep in plotting to overturn the election, and, in a more just world, they would have faced expulsion for violating Section 3. It’s their inclusion as signatories on the amicus brief that makes this filing particularly odious.
Cruz was one of the prime figures who urged others in the GOP to join the brief.
The members who directly aided Trump’s efforts are especially interested in this case, but the effort to file the brief was led in the House by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz’s participation is worth a side-eye given that he led the charge among Senate Republicans in challenging electoral votes in states where Trump called President-elect Joe Biden’s victory fraudulent. He also pitched a 10-day electoral commission to investigate the nonexistent fraud and potentially give state legislatures time to change their electoral slates as Trump would prefer. He never endorsed Trump’s wildest conspiracy theories, but he was caught on audio hoping Biden’s win would be reversed.
So if the Supreme Court decides that Trump can be removed from ballots, Cruz, Jordan, and others who took part in the plot to overturn the 2020 election could soon find they’ve been excluded from running or serving in any federal post, too. And that would be devastating to the GOP, which is quickly becoming known as the party of insurrection.
