because elections and the electoral college are controlled by individual states. He could try to disrupt things by declaring some kind of bogus emergency, but he can't stop states from holding elections or their electors from voting.

I think it would be a big mistake to go that route.

The dude is wrong, and even if an argument could be made that he might be able to postpone an election- which it can't...we had an election during WWII and THE CIVIL WAR, for criminy's sake- what you don't do is go around trying to tell everyone that it's PERFECTLY CONSTITUTIONAL for the wanna-be dictator to try to destroy our democracy.

People do not understand the lengths this man will go to to hold onto power, cover his six and stay out of prison. He doesn't need anyone's approval to evoke the Emergency Powers Act. Combine that with what we already know about trumpie . . . . Worried yet ??

Didn't happen then, and it won't happen now.

He likely though he would win on his own. Not saying he would have canceled the election though.

Keep in mind that even during the Civil War we had elections.

And any attempt to cancel elections would be quickly squashed by the courts, up to and including the Supreme Court.

For those of you unfamiliar with Constitutional law, YES, he absolutely CAN do this. Don't talk about something you don't understand. Under the "Emergency Powers Act," the president is granted sweeping, unilateral powers that would scare the fecal matter right out of your bum.

trumpie is desperate, and like a cornered animal, he is capable of doing anything to protect his ass. ANYTHING. As the impeachment hearings gear up and the evidence starts coming out, remember this. We are going to hear things that he does not want to see the light of day, and it is far worse than we know. Just wait. The time period between now and the election is going to be one bumpy ride, so strap in.

And, by all means, read the full Act, but not close to bedtime. It WILL keep you up all night.

Federal law doesn't outweigh constitutional requirements.

Federal law can't take away an explicit power of the states in the constitution, namely, to determine the next president on a schedule and in a manner clearly laid out in the constitution.

If Donnie invokes any provision of federal law to cancel the presidential election, the it should be declared unconstitutional. Yes, it's true that the Supreme Court might side with Donnie, but that has nothing to do with constitutional law. Instead, that would be a clear and obvious misinterpretation for partisan reasons. I.e., that would be ignoring the Constituion.

Congress can pass a law giving the Speaker of the House sweeping unilateral powers to appoint governors and mayors, but that doesn't mean the courts or anyone else must recognize them.

who are *ahem* unfamiliar with Constitutional law. The Constitution provides that elections and the Electoral College are controlled by the states, and since the Constitution is controlling over federal statutes, the act doesn't vitiate elections. Trump can declare all the emergencies he wants but he can't prevent the states from holding elections.

That's a repealed British law.
We have the National Emergencies Act and it does not authorize any POTUS to violate the Constitution.

There's no provision in the constitution for it, and to my knowledge nobody has ever claimed to be able to do this

If some jackass tries it, I want people to say with one voice "No, you can't do that" -- I don't want them to wring their hands and worry whether it's allowed

In my humble opinion, anybody who says he can do this is objectively a troll for Trump and effectively an enemy of my country

Section 1:

Article II
Section 1
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.



Emphasis added.

The term is 4 years. Election is under the power of states' legislatures and Congress. The President has no say in it, emergency or not.

which it invariably does.

I don't understand why "we" keep falling for it. It's utter nonsense.

But I like how his lack of legal qualifications is highlighted in the OP.

The federal government doesn’t even conduct our elections, for starters.

And, no, an Emmy nomination doesn’t make it true.

the Senate and much of the judiciary?

Everyone knew that the GOP Senate would just roll over and everyone *should* have known that Trump would remake the judiciary at the first opportunity. None of this is a surprise.

Many, many of us tried to warn Stein fans, both-siders, and other assorted misfits of the coming judicial catastrophe, starting with the Supreme Court, but many blew it off. And here we are.

The Supreme Court has not allowed Trump to violate the Constitution nor has it upheld any federal law that blatantly abrogates the power explicitly conferred upon the states by the Constitution.

This is tinfoil hat material that can be advanced with a straight face only by a commentator who lacks any basic knowledge of the law and the courts.

You mean like Michael Avenatti and Louise Mensch?

All Hell will break loose if he tries it.

There's more to an election cycle than the presidency. There is zero chance that the entire electoral system is going to grind to a halt if Trump just waves his tiny little hands.

It's a pipe dream of Trump's that's designed to generate a reaction, which it invariably does. It's much ado about nothing. Ignore it.

I agree with point #13. We should be focusing on what we will do for voters, similar to our approach in 2018, and focus on the 95%+ we have in common and not giving the policy differences all of the focus. And the "corporate Democrat" nonsense got old in 2016 (well before that, to be fair). It should have died there.

If the compact is broken, then the states are free to hold elections on their own. I would expect separatist candidates would win in many of those states, especially CA and NY.

Cluck-cluck-cluck

This article is paranoid nonsense.

...even more likely. Shudder.

Is that tRump thinks the Constitution is something for him to blow his nose on. No respect. He's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't feel the need to abide by it.

Folks who think Trump will allow himself to be video ted out are fooling themselves.

If Trump goes down, they might as well.

Maybe that's why they haven't dumped Trump already.

Roberts is far too concerned about his legacy to ever side with this. The vote will be 5-4 against Trump.

Not that Trump isn't crazy enough to try to cancel an election, but he's crazy to think Trump would get away with it.

If Trump even floated a trial balloon tweet about cancelling the election, you'd see support for impeachment and removal shoot up to 80-90%. If he actually issued an emergency order (based on what?), people would be in the streets, and his approval would be in single digits.

Remember, an emergency declaration can be overturned by congress.

There was a post elsewhere on DU about an analysis of Trump's base, and how his support from them is not invincible.

this just isn't accurate, and he doesn't seem to know much about the Constitution.

What we have is a meeting of the Electoral College, a creature created by the states and with no specific requirement to follow the general election.

The "Will of the People" is therefore technically irrelevant to who becomes President. So, even with an emergency greater then Pearl Harbor, no President will be able to install himself in office perpetually.

Yes, there are dictatos around the world who. have done this, but none with the protections or history we have

Hitler did manage to do this, but it was after a war that destroyed Germany, during a depression that hit it far worse than most other nations and the Soviets were knocking at the back door.

Hitler did, at the time, seem llke the least bad option.

Perhaps there are some good reasons to preserve the Second Amendment. It may come in handy one day.

instead of turning himself into an attention monger.