2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Loretta Lynch could file federal charges against Trump for High Treason NOW! [View all]zagamet
(8 posts)And then who becomes President on Jan 20th?
There can only be one President at a time. It would be a Constitutional crisis of the first order to have multiple people claiming the right to hold the office simultaneously. THIS above all else is why we've spent 200 plus years cementing the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.
More to the point, if you were a member of SCOTUS, would you want your legacy to be the creation of simultaneous claims by 1. President Elect, 2. Vice-President Elect, 3. Vice President, and 4. House Speaker to become the next President and the absolute destruction of governmental validity that would create?
And then various States would get involved, doubling down on the chaos. What happens when Texas refuses to allow its citizens to send their tax dollars to "The illegal Biden Administration"? What happens when the Oklahoma Gov issues a standing arrest warrant for "the illegitimate President and Constitutional Usurper"?
Look. Trump was elected by a base whose main goal is to bring down the validity of the federal government. SCOTUS getting involved at the last minute would give them everything they hope to achieve. It would be utterly destructive to the validity of the federal government as an institution.