The rejection came swiftly. The celebrations came just as fast.

The Supreme Court's unsigned order on Friday rejecting Texas's bid to toss the results of the 2020 presidential election in four states that delivered the White House to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. unceremoniously ended a case that President Trump had teased only hours earlier as "perhaps the most important case in history."

Democrats cheered the ruling as a symbolic final blow to more than a month of failed legal challenges by Mr. Trump and his allies — this case drew support from more than 120 Republican members of Congress and 17 attorneys general — and a victory for the will of voters who delivered Mr. Biden 306 Electoral College votes and a 7-million-strong popular vote win.

"The will of the people will be heard," said New York's attorney general, Letitia James, a Democrat, on Twitter. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania and a Democrat, wrote that the high court had recognized the lawsuit as "seditious abuse of the judicial process."

Legal experts never gave the case much of a chance. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska was the highest-level Republican to break with Mr. Trump and much of his own party in applauding the ruling.

"Since election night, a lot of people have been confusing voters by spinning Kenyan Birther-type, 'Chavez rigged the election from the grave' conspiracy theories," Mr. Sasse said in a statement, "But every American who cares about the rule of law should take comfort that the Supreme Court — including all three of President Trump's picks — closed the book on this nonsense."

Now Mr. Trump's final remaining ability to contest the results is in the court of public opinion, where his baseless arguments about widespread fraud have found far more fertile ground than in state and federal courts. A poll released this week by Quinnipiac University found that more than three-quarters of Republicans believe there was widespread fraud. But the Supreme Court's ruling effectively ended the president's attempts to use the legal system to get a result the voters denied him.

"The good news is that our institutions held," said Rick Hasen, a professor of law at the University of California at Irvine. "While many Republican legislators and attorneys general signed onto Texas's antidemocratic effort, Republican election officials who count the votes and Republican judges did not."

Yet even among those who celebrated the outcome of the case, many feared the longer term impact of the president's rhetoric on public trust in democracy and the mechanics of elections.

"Pleased with the SCOTUS ruling, but also immediately slightly terrified of where this crazy train goes next," Brendan Buck, an adviser to the last two Republican speakers, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, wrote on Twitter. He later added, "We should know by now there's a bottomless supply of crazy."

Not long after, Allen West, a former congressman and the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, slashed at the Supreme Court and said in a statement that hinted at secession that "perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution."

Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois, called on the Texas G.O.P. to retract the statement and fire Mr. West. "My guy Abraham Lincoln and the Union soldiers already told you no," Mr. Kinzinger wrote on Twitter.

With loss after loss in the courts and multiple recounts showing Mr. Biden ahead in the decisive states, Mr. Trump's November defeat has been repeated, certified and confirmed enough to keep many Democrats pleased.

"With each loss we get to celebrate the Biden/Harris victory all over again," noted Ken Martin, a vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the state party chair in Minnesota. "It's like the gift that keeps on giving."

— Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, December 11, 2020

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December 12, 2020

Voices4America Post Script. When SCOTUS refused the idiotic Texas lawsuit to overthrow our election, one Texas official called for secession, Marco Rubio brayed, but the nation felt continued relief. Monday, the Electors vote, and yes, early voting begins in GA. Let's get to the Finish Line on the Senate too. #JoeKamalaWon

BTW, here are the traitors from the House who pushed for overthrowing our election. #NeverForget

Here are the Republicans or should we say ReTRUMPlicans who backed the Texas attempt to overturn the vote.

From Speaker Pelosi.