But Donnie, who would be president?

by Original Quill Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:40 pm

Presidential appointee, the impeached Donald J. Trump, tweeted early this morning that the US Presidential election should be delayed this November:

Associated Press wrote:"With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted Thursday. "It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

But one thing he overlooks is, it would leave the US—in the middle of a pandemic, with hurricane season upon us, with a looming depression immanent, and civil unrest owing to a white supremacist convulsion—without a constitutionally determined president.

Oh, does Trump think he would remain in office?

No, if the election is set aside, the US Constitution, 20th Amendment, makes clear that there is no slipperiness...

US Constitution, Amendment XX wrote:The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

The Constitution makes no provision for retaining a sitting president. This is because the Constitution expects (demands?) the election and selection to take place on November 3rd. The 25th-Amendment makes provision for death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation, but nothing for postponement of the election. Indeed, the entire Constitution makes no provision, otherwise.

In fact, only those elected officials with terms beyond November 3rd would be eligible for presidential succession. All House members are up every 2 years. Judges are appointed for life. When calculations for the US Senate are done, the Republicans will be vacating 23 seats in 2020, while the Democratic Party will be vacating 12 seats. By vacating the elections on November 3rd, Democrats will be in control of the Senate and have any power of appointment.

On July 18, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act. The original act of 1792 had placed the Senate president pro tempore and Speaker of the House in the line of succession, but in 1886 Congress had removed them. The 1947 law reinserted those officials, but placed the Speaker ahead of the president pro tempore. Presumably we must follow this order of selection in order to determine the person that would assume the office.

But, alas, if elections were not held, and incumbents out-lasted their terms, the raw facts are: Judges are not elected and thus not eligible, the president and vice-president would be termed out of office, as would be their appointed cabinet officers, the House will be completely termed out and vacant, and only the aforementioned 65 Senators would remain—leaving the Democrats in the majority in the Senate.

The Democrats would elect the Senate president pro tempore, and s/he would, by the 1947 Succession Act, become the president. Next in line would be the Secretary of State, but s/he would be out of office having no presidential sponsorship. The Senate president pro tempore, now become the president, would appoint an acting vice-president under the terms of the 25th Amendment. The Democrats would be in total charge of the government.

What does Trump think he would gain by foregoing the election on November 3rd?