The Supreme Court Shouldn’t Punt on This One

For the most part, America’s governing institutions have thus far responded to the problem of Donald Trump’s authoritarian aspirations by punting—passing the ball to some other actor in our political system. The criminal prosecutor Robert Mueller decided that Congress, not the Department of Justice, where he was special counsel, should assess whether Trump had committed any crimes in the 2016 election. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly blamed Trump for January 6 but voted to acquit him in his Senate impeachment trial anyway, on the grounds that holding Trump accountable for his actions was the responsibility of the courts. Similarly, the overwhelming majority of state election officials who have considered whether Trump should be deemed ineligible to appear on ballots have concluded that such