Policy Backgrounder : - Presidential Immunity and Eligibility

The heart of the decision lies in this excerpt from it, grounding the decision in the Constitutional separation of powers: [F]ormer President Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches. [...] If the Court were to rule quickly, the trial could start in late Spring; a delayed Court decision could mean that the trial would begin later in the year, possibly occurring during the heart of the fall campaign. [...] In response, former President Trump argues that the President is not an “officer of the United States” and the presidency is not therefore an office “under the United States,” on the ground that the Constitution sometimes mentions “Officers of the United States” separate from the President. [...] The Case Before the Supreme Court To the question of whether former President Trump was an “officer of the United States,” Petitioners respond that the Constitution terms the Presidency an “office” and therefore the President is an “officer,” consistent with understanding of the term when the Constitution was written. [...] And if there is some debate about it, I suppose that will go into the decision.” Roberts also noted that the general thrust of the Fourteenth Amendment was to limit the powers of states and that Colorado’s position that states have the power to prevent candidates from running “seems to be a position that is at war with the whole thrust of the Fourteenth Amendment and very ahistorical.” Colorado’s.