http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/byron-yorks-daily-memo-democrats-want-it-all-now
DEMOCRATS WANT IT ALL NOW. Remember the weeks before the election, when leading Democrats, voices in the media, and tech moguls warned America to be patient after election day? It might take days, or weeks, or even months, to know the final results of the presidential election, they warned. Americans should not get ahead of themselves but instead wait to let the process of choosing a new president work.
That was then. Now, some Democrats not only want President Trump to leave office, they want him to do so, and be replaced by Joe Biden, immediately. On Tuesday evening, Hollywood moviemaker and activist Rob Reiner tweeted: "Since Donald Trump has already stopped doing his job (and never really did) why wait until January 20? He should leave now and let Joe Biden do what he would never do: be a real president.ā€¯
The problem: That's not how things work. First, for all the media projections, Biden is not yet the official winner of the presidential race. The Electoral College meets to cast its votes on December 14. Those votes are then transmitted to Congress, which will certify the results on January 6. That's the official process. There may be no doubt as to how it will turn out, but there are still procedures to follow.
More importantly, Rob Reiner's wishes aside, a president cannot just give the presidency to someone else. Consider the opening words of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution: "The terms of the president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January [of the year in which their terms end]...and the terms of their successors shall then begin." That makes it abundantly clear that the president, in this case Donald Trump, will remain president until January 20, 2021.
Then, consider the opening words of the 25th Amendment: "In the case of the removal of the president from office or of his death or resignation, the vice president shall become president." Could that be any clearer? Trump is president until January 20, and if for any reason he leaves office, Vice President Mike Pence will replace him until his term ends on January 20.
It should not have to be explained, but there is no way Joe Biden can become president before noon on January 20, 2021. Rob Reiner will just have to wait.
But that hasn't stopped the talk. On CNN Monday, former CIA Director John Brennan, who has long engaged in wild Resistance anti-Trump theorizing, suggested that Pence lead a plot against the president, using the 25th Amendment's provisions for removing him. "If Vice President Pence and the cabinet had an ounce of fortitude and spine and patriotism, I think they would seriously consider invoking the 25th Amendment and pushing Donald Trump out," Brennan said.
What is the lesson of this? Other than the basic civics of presidential terms and succession, it seems to be that the people who have been driven 'round the bend by the Trump presidency are still 'round the bend, even as the process to formalize a successor is under way. Then the question is: Will they suddenly become rational actors once January 20 arrives? Or have they permanently lost their senses?
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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