FEC commissioner to Trump: 'No. You don't have the power to move the election'

[mucifer]

Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Commissioner Ellen Weintraub flatly stated on Thursday that the executive branch does not have the power to delay a presidential election after President Trump stirred an uproar by raising the idea in an early morning tweet.

“No, Mr. President. No,” Weintraub said in a statement shared on Twitter. "You don't have the power to move the election. Nor should it be moved."

"States and localities are asking you and Congress for funds so they can properly run the safe and secure elections all Americans want," she added. "Why don't you work on that?"

more:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/509764-fec-commissioner-to-trump-no-you-dont-have-the-power-to-move-the-election

[triron]

1. He will try to just take that power.

[Loki Liesmith]

4. It can't happen

If there’s no election before the electoral college meets then the Speaker of the House becomes the next president on Jan 20. At that point the secret service transfers loyalty to her and they will act to remove any unwanted individuals in the White House.

[onetexan]

14. Oh SNAP!!! Madame Speaker becomes President Pelosi. Imagine that!!

I'm sure the Rethugs will love that

[elleng]

21. YES!!!

[Pepsidog]

25. Wouldn't that be nice. R's would jump off a cliff.

[triron]

19. Nice to hear from you again. Thanks for the information.

[Celerity]

43. no, as IF there are NO elections in November, then come January 3rd, the House has no members

the Senate will reduced to 65 (35 seats are up, 33 regular, and 2 special elections) on January 3rd as well.

33 Dems, 30 Rethugs, and then Sanders and King.

The 35 strong Dem Caucasus will elect a President Pro Temp, who then would become POTUS on January 20th, 2021 and remain POTUS until the nightmare is sorted out. I think they would not pick Leahy, but someone else as PPT. IF Biden picks a Senator as VP, then they would probably make that person PPT (and thus POTUS for a spell.)

I will admit that it could get really crazy if some states hold elections and others do not. I have no answer for what would happen then (in regards to Congress especially).

[whopis01]

66. Vacant Senate seats can be filled by Governors

The 17th amendment allows the executive branch of each state to appoint temporary replacements in the case of vacancies.

So that balance of 35 to 33 won’t last very long in that scenario.

[GB_RN]

44. Definitely can't happen

The Constitution requires that the election be held every four years. Election day was by Congress, back in 1845. [link:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Election_Day_Act|]

Good luck to El Caudillo Del Mar-a-Lago getting Nancy Pelosi to sign off on moving the election because, reasons.🙄 😂

[TomSlick]

64. It's a fine point but the election date is set by federal statute, not the constitution.

There is no possibility the House would vote to change the election date, so it isn't going to happen.

You are correct but for the wrong reason.

[GB_RN]

67. Umm...

I actually DID point out the specific statute that sets the date of the election. I even linked to the relevant Wikipedia article on it, which was enacted by Congress in 1845.

[TomSlick]

68. You are correct. My apologies.

[Captain Zero]

48. The House can appoint anyone to the speakership

Remember that. Doesn't have to be a member.

[Kid Berwyn]

2. He won't "work on that."

If the election was safe and secure he would never win.

“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “They had things in there about election days and what you do and all sorts of clawbacks. They had things that were just totally crazy and had nothing to do with workers that lost their jobs and companies that we have to save.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/30/trump-republican-party-voting-reform-coronavirus

[SergeStorms]

26. From the same article...

"Trump’s Monday comments showed he saw voter suppression as part of his re-election strategy, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in a statement Monday. “Ensuring that Americans can vote during the Covid-19 crisis is fundamental to maintaining our democracy. It is shocking that Trump is essentially admitting that when the American people vote, Republican lose,” said Xochitl Hinojosa, a DNC spokeswoman. “Trump knows that suppressing the vote is the only way he and Republicans win in November.”

Voter suppression is part of their strategy. Of course we all know that, but to see it in black and white, right from a republican's lying, stinking, diseased mouth is sobering all the same. We have to get every Democratic voter to the polls this year, even if it means wrapping them in Saran Wrap and giving them S.C.U.B.A. gear.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

3. Can he replace her? Hope not. 😨

He won't like this woman talking back to him.

[BComplex]

7. That was my first thought. She's about to get the "you're fired" treatment.

The old IG treatment.

Just looked it up. They cannot be fired. They are nominated by the president, and confirmed by the senate for a term of 6 years.

[onetexan]

18. Thank you for this!!

[rsdsharp]

63. The FBI director has a term of, I believe, 9 years.

Comey got fired, anyway.

[Retrograde]

33. Current House seats all expire on Jan. 3, 2021

If there's no election in November what happens to the House? Will the states that do all-mail voting send be the only ones left with representatives? I don't want to go down that rathole.

[avebury]

34. I don't see how Trump could prevent states from holding state elections

which would allow those states to vote for US Representatives and US Senators (where appropriate).

[yellowdogintexas]

65. if it goes past Jan 2, every state legislature in the country

would be decimated. We'd lose all our House members and half of our state senators

[AllyCat]

41. A discussion I had on Twitter we thought

a third of Senate seats will also expire. That makes the remaining 65 seats 35-30 D-R. Dems have majority. Elect new pro temp and we get a Democrat as acting POTUS until elections take place nationwide.

[SoonerPride]

5. Pompeo say DOJ will decide, so then what?

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Thekaspervote]

9. No you fucking won't

[LiberalFighter]

13. Pompeo is a jackass. He needs to be deported to Russia.

[rickyhall]

54. I'd like to Pompy in an orange jumpsuit, too.

[wryter2000]

20. He's just as wrong as the idiot he works for

Not up to you or the DOJ, so you can tell Barr to stop salivating.

[lagomorph777]

24. Poopeo is full of poop.

As usual, he's just making shit up. DOJ doesn't get to change the date or cancel the elections, which are managed by the states.

[Sugarcoated]

50. How do Pompeo or the DOJ get to call the shots?

[crickets]

6. So *there*, donnie.

"States and localities are asking you and Congress for funds so they can properly run the safe and secure elections all Americans want," she added. "Why don't you work on that?"

We all know why, but good for Weintraub for pointing it out.

[yaesu]

8. lifelong con artist tRump, an NBC made reality show star, his presidency is & has been fashioned

after a reality show with one liners & daily drama, this is just the daily act to feed the show. He has made much more money playing president than he could ever dream to make on NBC

[pandr32]

10. Well, we know why he won't work on that! Re--last line.

[0rganism]

11. "work"? he doesn't do "work"

to Trump, "work" is getting the makeup just right so he can feel comfy when he blabs at the cameras or goes golfing
for anything resembling "work" on behalf of Americans, he delegates to an unqualified crony

[Roc2020]

12. He knows he is going to lose

and is paranoid desperate. Trump right now is a very dangerous man and requires strong attention from authorities designed to protect the country.

[onetexan]

23. In deed, he'll continue to consolidate power & make himself lifetime president like Putin, Kim & Xi

[0rganism]

32. recreational tyranny

what a sick motherfucker

[Crazyleftie]

15. The media is feeding his brain

with these thoughts

first it was asking him will he accept the election

now it is asking him if he will postpone the election

the media is just stirring the pot for controversy and ratings......

[maxsolomon]

17. "the media" is not a monolith

if you mean FoxNews or OAN, then say it. MSNBC isn't suggesting he suspend the election and impose an Authoritarian Dictatorship simply FOR RATINGS.

Or do you mean print media? the NYT or WaPo? He doesn't read those, because he doesn't read.

it's more likely his ADVISERS, in the WH and in his campaign, are strategizing options to delay his crushing defeat.

[Saviolo]

28. He's not setting the groundwork to move the election

He is setting the groundwork to dismiss the results if he doesn't like them because of all of the widespread fraud that he has now forecast. He's setting the groundwork to try to completely invalidate the electoral results and to get his rabid and heavily armed supporters to take to the streets if he loses. Look at his original tweet. He doesn't lead off with "moving the election" he leads off with "INACCURATE AND FRAUDULENT!" because that's the truth he's trying to spin.

[leftieNanner]

30. And from what Barr has been saying

He will totally get behind the "fraudulent election" BS. He WILL throw the DOJ onto the Idiot-in-Chief's side. He said something in his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee the other day that if the election is close, he will investigate.

[Saviolo]

40. That's all well and good...

But what happens when the streets are full of Tru(mp)e Believers (TM)(C)(R) with lots of guns screaming that the Democrats stole the election? No way this ends calmly.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Let Them Whine

They can complain about fraud all they want.
There won't be any proof so the results will be whatever they are.
Their complaining will just be noise.

[Saviolo]

45. We've said this over and over regarding Trump.

Every time it's some idea that the checks and balances will somehow step in and stop him, but right now we're all coming to terms with the fact that it's all being run on the honor system, and guess who doesn't have any? Sure, he was impeached, but the Senate cleared him. He's never going to lose the support of the cronies his put in the DOJ, and his little spineless enablers like Sue Collins in the Senate. He breaks the law all the time with impunity, and everyone creases their brow at him in concern and looks towards the election which is already being tampered with (because there will be massive mail-in voting, Trump is screwing with the USPS:

Time: "U.S. Postal Service Considers Downsizing, Senator and Union Leader Say"

MarketWatch: "Postal Service may close offices, cut service ahead of election"

And why? Because the Trump admin/Congress hasn’t given the USPS any bailout funds and has put in a postmaster general who is now having carriers prioritize delivery of commercial packages over that of regular mail.

WaPo: "Postal Service memos detail ‘difficult’ changes, including slower mail delivery"

He's been eroding the infrastructure for a free and fair election since he took office (and the GOP for a long time before that), and it's crumbling now.

[ProfessorGAC]

46. Does Your Neck Hurt?

Mine almost does from the whiplash of you changing the subject at Warp 6.
The post to which I replied wasn't about how THEY are trying to fix the election.
It was about setting up to call the results illegitimate.
What does your reply have to do with that?

[Saviolo]

59. It's about fraudulent elections.

He's setting the expectation that the elections will be fraudulent, and one of the ways he's doing that is by associating mail-in ballots with fraud. At the same time he's making it -harder- to vote by mail, which he'll be able to spin into more "evidence" that mail-in ballots are fraudulent. True or not, evidence or not, proof or not, he'll be able to say the election was fraudulent and the most rabid of his supporters will fight to fall over themselves to defend him.

[SWBTATTReg]

52. Won't work. He tried the same thing in 2016. Nonsense claim(s) not backed by evidence.

[chwaliszewski]

29. Was my tweet reply too harsh?

Link to tweet

[leftieNanner]

31. Can you flag or report this tweet?

It is full of lies. Shouldn't Twitter do something? (silly question, I know)

[Initech]

51. Twitter has rules about misleading information on elections.

I hope this tweet gets flagged ASAP.

[trueblue2007]

57. i reported his tweet. lies about election is against Twitter rules

[AlexSFCA]

35. Can states postpone the election?

what if some pro-trump states postpone the election?

[CaptainTruth]

47. As long as a simple majority of electors are certified by Dec 10, yes.

[AlexSFCA]

56. sounds great to me

[tiptonic]

36. There goes

There goes her job. Too bad, sounds like she is someone, with some integrity.

[Nululu]

42. Loser Trump becomes more desperate

[Warpy]

53. GOP senators are also shooting the idea down

I think they realize any delay will just cause anti GOP sentiment to build and the GOP will not only fail to retain their majority, they will also fail to retain any seats up for reelection.

[softydog88]

55. Trump will simply make himself

The Federal Elections Commission Executive Supreme.

[Cha]

58. 'Cause trump is a ******* Fascist-Putin's Puppet.. but

thanks for the question to him and the Encouragement.

[bucolic_frolic]

60. Trump either has no case or a weak case. If he has a good one, he's not telling you, which is why

you should be concerned. We've been forewarned. This is a statement of intention, entitlement, a prescription for grand larceny.

Our Democratic leaders and party and lawyers should burn the midnight oil from now to January 21. There will be multiple obstacles, perhaps contingent or conjoined. We must fight every one of them.

And I am concerned that it's what they're not telling you is what's important. Some obscure, simple legal principle like an injunction. 'You should invalidate the election because I am being harmed by it.'

[Squidly]

61. The fix is in

Brace yourselves folks...he knows he cant win fair and square.

[warmfeet]

62. In other news,

no one seems to have the power to pull tRumps head out of his ass. It's stuck for the duration.