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> The constitution doesn't actually decide what we do The 20th Amendment: Section 1: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20t

> The constitution doesn't actually decide what we do The 20th Amendment: Section 1: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January... Section 3: If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. If there's no election, he stops being President at noon on the 20th of January.

tropo 7y ago
Sure, but that 20th day of January might come really late. The constitution does not define a calendar, time zone, or second. Suppose we add 80 more months. The 13th month is Trumpuary, the 14th month is Trumpember, and so on. Another option is to put Washington D.C. in a timezone that is off from UTC by 50000 hours. Another option is to make December 1000 days long. Reading over your quote, it actually seems that a simple law could keep the president in power as long as no President elect or Vice President elect exists. As it says, "the Congress may by law provide for the case", "declaring who shall then act". Nothing says it can't be the old president.
- OldHand2018 7y ago
  12th amendment On 6 Jan 2021, the votes of the electoral college will be counted in a joint session of Congress. Disputes about the votes will be addressed, if they exist (and if no general election is held, I'd imagine there would be plenty!). Once that ends, if nobody has an absolute majority of votes, the Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives immediately goes into session and votes for President (the Senate votes for Vice President). President Trump needs to win a fair election to continue being President.
  - tropo 7y ago
    It would be the new house, not the old one, and it is only permitted to choose from the candidates offered by the electors. Also, does January 6th have to exist? By law, we could shorten January to just 5 days. We could compensate by lengthening March. There would never again be a January 6th.

tropo 7y ago

Sure, but that 20th day of January might come really late. The constitution does not define a calendar, time zone, or second. Suppose we add 80 more months. The 13th month is Trumpuary, the 14th month is Trumpember, and so on. Another option is to put Washington D.C. in a timezone that is off from UTC by 50000 hours. Another option is to make December 1000 days long. Reading over your quote, it actually seems that a simple law could keep the president in power as long as no President elect or Vice President elect exists. As it says, "the Congress may by law provide for the case", "declaring who shall then act". Nothing says it can't be the old president.

OldHand2018 7y ago
12th amendment On 6 Jan 2021, the votes of the electoral college will be counted in a joint session of Congress. Disputes about the votes will be addressed, if they exist (and if no general election is held, I'd imagine there would be plenty!). Once that ends, if nobody has an absolute majority of votes, the Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives immediately goes into session and votes for President (the Senate votes for Vice President). President Trump needs to win a fair election to continue being President.
- tropo 7y ago
  It would be the new house, not the old one, and it is only permitted to choose from the candidates offered by the electors. Also, does January 6th have to exist? By law, we could shorten January to just 5 days. We could compensate by lengthening March. There would never again be a January 6th.