[Dr. Franklin]

Article III, Sec. 2, Clause 2:
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

POTUS is a "consul" in its original meaning from the Roman Republic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_consul#Under_the_Republic
Since the case affected the election of POTUS, it was within SCOTUS's obligatory original jurisdiction. Unfortunately, Texas didn't brief this point.

[Dr. Franklin]

Article III, Sec. 2, Clause 2: In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

POTUS is a "consul" in its original meaning from the Roman Republic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_consul#Under_the_Republic Since the case affected the election of POTUS, it was within SCOTUS's obligatory original jurisdiction. Unfortunately, Texas didn't brief this point.

By way of further comment, the French Consulate refers to the period from 1799-1804 in French history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Consulate
During that time, the executive branch of government consisted of three consuls. Napoleon held the title of First Consul, as head of state. Although after the American Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, this period is sufficiently contemporaneous to demonstrate that POTUS was fairly included in that language as intended by the Founding Fathers. The textualists on SCOTUS failed us.