--- title: Trump Colorado Case Draws Push For Clarence Thomas Recusal description: As a decision banning Trump from the Colorado ballot is bound for the US Supreme Court, Democrats argue Clarence Thomas can't participate. canonical: https://time.com/6549688/colorado-trump-clarence-thomas/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-12-20T21:43:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:48.518Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Colorado Case Draws Push For Clarence Thomas Recusal og:description: Thomas already recused himself from a court decision in October related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. og:url: https://time.com/6549688/colorado-trump-clarence-thomas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e1ae708630a7169/698a4368db29876254269abb/GettyImages-1243793918.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Group Photograph Of U.S. Supreme Court Justices og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Colorado Case Draws Push For Clarence Thomas Recusal twitter:description: Thomas already recused himself from a court decision in October related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e1ae708630a7169/698a4368db29876254269abb/GettyImages-1243793918.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Clarence Thomas Has Recused Himself Before. Will He Do it in Trump's Colorado Ballot Case? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=33923c7c-d913-4c1b-b36f-4e8c2f359a0c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Donald Trump Banned From 2024 Ballot in Colorado After Historic Ruling by State Court [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Banned From 2024 Ballot in Colorado After Historic Ruling by State Court](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/blMYdSxc.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2023-12-20. The Colorado Supreme Court decided Tuesday night to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot in 2024—a ruling that will surely be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The move has already been met with strong reactions across parties._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. Dec 20, 2023 9:43 PM UTC  Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for a photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Oct. 7, 2022. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for a photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Oct. 7, 2022. Eric Lee—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. Dec 20, 2023 9:43 PM UTC Each year in October, the Supreme Court justices kick off their new term by publishing a terse list of what cases they’ll hear. This year, one sentence on that list gave liberal court observers hope that Justice Clarence Thomas might recuse himself from decisions related to former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, given the [role](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/) Thomas’ wife Virginia Thomas played in promoting false claims of election fraud within Trump’s inner circle. The justices had rejected a request by John Eastman, Trump’s former lawyer, to appeal a ruling that he hand over emails to Congressional investigators looking into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. “Justice Thomas took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition,” read the sentence, without giving Thomas’ reason for not weighing in. Now Democrats in Congress and liberal legal scholars are calling for Thomas to recuse himself from other cases likely to come before the Court related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including an expected appeal to a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to strip Trump’s name from the state’s Republican primary ballot. The court ruled on Tuesday in a 4-3 decision that Trump is ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, citing his actions surrounding the Capitol riot. Trump’s campaign has denounced the decision and vowed to appeal it to the US Supreme Court, which is already considering a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith that the court decide if Trump is immune from charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. ### More From TIME This puts the spotlight further on Justice Thomas, whose wife Virginia was deeply involved in spreading false claims to Trump’s close advisors and trying to get the 2020 election results reversed. Thomas “has no business hearing this case. Why? Because his wife was a major player in the whole insurrection,” LaDoris Cordell, a retired California superior court judge, said on MSNBC on Wednesday., “He should, if he had principles, recuse himself.” Thomas has been in the spotlight much of the year as investigative reports have raised ethics questions about his willingness to accept loans, expensive flights and other gifts from Republican donors. In response to the reports, the Supreme Court in November formally adopted what it called a new code of conduct, but did not say how it would be enforced. Last week, before the Colorado ruling, a group of House Democrats led by Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia sent a [letter](https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-johnson-colleagues-urge-justice-thomas-recuse-trump-immunity-case) to Thomas urging him to recuse himself from Smith’s request, “and any other decisions in the case of _United States v. Trump_.” The 7 co-signers included Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. “These details about your wife’s activities raise serious questions about your ability to be or even to appear impartial in any cases before the Supreme Court involving the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection,” the lawmakers wrote, noting Virginia Thomas had attended the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack, and was deeply involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement. The letter also highlighted how the Court’s new code of conduct calls for Justices to recuse themselves if their spouse has “interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.” Despite his recent decision to recuse himself from Eastman’s appeal, Thomas is unlikely to step back from either the Jack Smith request or Trump’s eventual appeal of the decision in Colorado, says Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University Law School professor. “I’m skeptical he would adopt that type of sweeping recusal position,” Turley says, because Supreme Court justices have historically tried to limit when they recuse themselves given that the court is the final arbiter in the country and a recusal could lead to a tie vote in the nine-member court. The Colorado ballot case “holds such momentous importance for both the Constitution and the country that the expectation is that he will rule with his colleagues,” Turley says. Turley believes that the Colorado decision went too far in banning Trump from the ballot, and argued that Chief Justice John Roberts should try to corral a rare unanimous decision overturning the ruling. “There are certain moments in history that call on the court to speak in one voice,” Turley said. “This is one of those moments.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6549688/colorado-trump-clarence-thomas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6549688/colorado-trump-clarence-thomas/"},"headline":"Clarence Thomas Has Recused Himself Before. 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