Supreme Court declines to fast-track election-related disputes
Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected requests to fast-track a bevy of election-related disputes brought by President Trump and other Republicans, effectively foreclosing any action from the justices before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week.
The court declined to expedite consideration of the lawsuits brought by Mr. Trump and GOP allies, including lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, that targeted the election results from battleground states he lost: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia. There were no noted dissents.
In refusing to speed up review of the legal battles, the cases will effectively be moot by the time the justices consider them during its regular schedule. Mr. Biden will be sworn in January 20.
As litigation related to the election wound through the federal court system, the Supreme Court, now with a 6-3 conservative majority, rejected disputes that sought to reverse the outcome of the presidential election. Mr. Trump often took to his now-suspended Twitter account to express hope the high court would deliver him a second term, and when it did not do so, lashed out at the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three justices.
Last week, the president finally acknowledged he would be leaving office January 20, but only after a violent mob of his supporters mounted an assault on the U.S. Capitol. The attack, which occurred as the House and Senate were convened to count the electoral votes and reaffirm Mr. Biden's victory, led to the evacuation of lawmakers, while Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Senate at the time, was whisked off the floor.
