The head of the House Democratic Caucus warned Tuesday that voters should have no faith in Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to certify this year’s presidential election results because of his role in promoting former President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 contest being “rigged.”
“He doesn’t have a track record that would indicate to the American people that he should be believed,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said during a press briefing in the Capitol.
The charge came shortly after Johnson, appearing at the same pressroom podium, had vowed to back the certification of the winner of this year’s contest between Trump and Vice President Harris — if the elections are “free, fair and safe.”
So... When pre modern societies had an enemy within that was openly trying to destroy their way of life, they'd just kill that person or render them as outlaws (literally not protected by the law).
Instead we're just watching them lie, and allowing them to retain their position, privileges, and safety until... When exactly? What's the civilized solution when we're subject to the rulership of men who are protected by our laws but not bound by them? Everyone knows "free, fair, and safe" is code for "if my guy wins", because it's the same exact way Trump talks about repeating his insurrection any time you ask if he'll accept the results. The lies are clear and the wheels of justice aren't fast enough to stop them. What's the civilized solution?
House and Senate staff meet with OFR staff to inspect the Certificates of Vote in late December. If any State’s Certificate fails to reach the President of the Senate, the President of the Senate calls on OFR to deliver duplicate originals in its possession to complete the set held by Congress.
Congress meets in joint session in the House of Representatives on January 6 to count the electoral votes. The Vice President, as President of the Senate, is the presiding officer, whose powers are limited by Federal statute to performing ministerial duties. The President of the Senate opens the votes of the States in alphabetical order, and hands them to the appointed Tellers, who announce the results out loud. The President of the Senate then calls for any objections.
To be recognized, an objection must:
be submitted in writing
be signed by at least one-fifth of the House and one-fifth of the Senate
state clearly and concisely, without argument, one of two acceptable grounds for objection; that:
a. the electors of the State were not lawfully certified under a Certificate of Ascertainment, or
b. the vote of one or more electors has not been regularly given.
If an objection is recognized, the House and Senate withdraw to their respective chambers to consider the merits of any objections, following the process set out in 3 U.S.C. §§ 15 and 17. After all the votes are recorded and counted, the President of the Senate declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.
I think the concern is that Johnson is one step away from the VP so if either Biden or Harris aren't as lucky as donald has been recently then he would be the one responsible for certifying.
It's only a line of succession if the top spot is gone.
If Biden is gone then Harris becomes president, but the VP spot remains open.
If Harris is gone then the VP spot remains open.
A new VP is then filled by someone nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. (It's possible things could freeze here, but not by Johnson.)
AFAIK there is nothing that would make Johnson the acting VP.
Only if Biden & Harris die in a short window, moving him to President, would he be a problem.
If Biden is out, Harris becomes President, picks her own VP who would do the certification.
If Harris is out, well that would be a nightmare because of the election, but Biden would replace her and that VP would do the certification.
If Biden AND Harris are both lost in some kind of catastrophe, Johnson becomes President and still doesn't certify the election because whoever he picks for VP would do that.
I like how democrats are suddenly making noise weeks before the election about voter fraud and disenfranchisement in Georgia and elsewhere, the traitors in congress, and all the other ways Republicans have been subverting the electoral process. Too little, too late.
This is extra concerning because it seems more likely than not Trump will win this election. I'm not counting on democrats to be able to mount an effective defense of the country as a whole when Trump starts playing dirty pool from the oval office.
Just remember, at best this election is a coin flip, but I tend to agree with the democratic insiders that are confident Harris's numbers are both soft and inaccurately high. Not to mention even with these theoretically inflated numbers, she's still doing worse than Hillary and Biden at this point in the election. As we may all recall, Hillary lost and Biden won by barely 44,000 votes.
Effective resistance is going to be very important, and the democrats look about as ignorant and ineffective as ever.
Whether you believe it or not doesn't particularly matter. I imagine there's a strong possibility you're going to be saying "I find this hard to believe" after the election as well.