The US Supreme Court began to hear arguments in Trump v. Anderson on February 8, 2024—a case with the potential to be one of the most significant ones in the history of American democracy. It considers the question of whether former President Donald J. Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President of the United States according to the US Constitution.

Kettering Senior Fellow J. Michael Luttig, one of the most eminent legal scholars today and a renowned conservative jurist, coauthored a brief with other conservative lawyers and former officials. Luttig is one of the chief proponents of the argument that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution disqualifies former President Trump from office. Luttig recently spoke with Brad Rourke, Kettering chief external affairs officer and director of DC operations, in an interview that touches on why the argument is so important and the potential implications, as well as responds to objections that disqualifying the former president would be undemocratic.

In addition, Kettering Senior Fellow Christine Todd Whitman, former two-term and first female Governor of New Jersey, coauthored a brief with other former Republican governors. And Kettering Senior Fellow Steven Levitsky, coauthor of How Democracies Die, has joined other democracy experts to file an amicus brief. Levitsky was recently interviewed by Alex Lovit, Kettering Foundation senior program officer and historian, on the Kettering Foundation’s new podcast, The Context. 

Our senior fellows are sending a powerful message that our democracy must be defended and preserved. As Luttig explains in the interview, this case “will test America’s commitment to democracy, to the Constitution, and to the rule of law.”