BREAKING: Supreme Court to hear Colorado ballot case to determine if Trump can stay on the ballot

On Friday, the US Supreme Court announced that it will decide whether former Republican President Donald Trump can be legally kept off the ballot due to his alleged role in the Jan. 6 protest at the US Capitol in 2021, for which Democrats have continuously blasted Trump and his supporters. This comes after Trump's legal team appealed the decision by the highest court in Colorado.

Arguments will be heard as soon as early February, according to the AP.

The justices agreed that a decision had to be made swiftly because presidential primary votes would shortly be cast nationwide. The Supreme Court decided to hear the Colorado case, which was brought by a not-for-profit from DC alleging that Trump should not remain on the ballot due to the way he handled the aftermath of the 2020 election. They claimed that he was guilty of "insurrection" and that therefore, per paragraph 3 of the 14th Amendment, he would not be eligible to run for president.

For the first time, the court will be debating the scope and meaning that section of the 14th Amendment that prohibits certain individuals who "engaged in insurrection" from holding public office. It was written after the Civil War to prevent Confederates from holding elected office. A Colorado court that first herd the case said that Trump could remain on the ballot though they claimed he was guilty of insurrection, a crime for which he has not been charged, tried or convicted. That decision was appealed, and a higher court decided that Trump was guilty of insurrection, citing the lower court ruling and said he needed to be removed from the ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court decided by a vote of 4–3 that Trump was not eligible to run in the Republican primary. This was the first instance of a presidential candidate being disqualified from the election under the 14th Amendment.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump and his lawyers appealed to the United States Supreme Court to reverse a ruling made by Colorado's highest court that rendered him ineligible to appear on the ballot in the state under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment

The former president's legal team argued that the question of whether or not a candidate is eligible is "reserved for Congress, not the state courts" to decide.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.