Category: 2020 Election

Trump’s assault on election integrity forces question: What would happen if he refused to accept a loss?

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s relentless efforts to sow doubts about the legitimacy of this year’s election are forcing both parties to reckon with the possibility that he may dispute the result in November if he loses — leading to an unprecedented test of American democracy.

With less than four months before the election, Trump’s escalating attacks on the security of mail-in ballots and his refusal again this week to reassure the country that he would abide by the voters’ will have added urgency to long-simmering concerns among scholars and his critics about the lengths he could go to hold on to power.

“What the president is doing is willfully and wantonly undermining confidence in the most basic democratic process we have,” said William A. Galston, chair of the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program. “Words almost fail me — it’s so deeply irresponsible. He’s arousing his core supporters for a truly damaging crisis in the days and weeks after the November election.” Continue reading.

Oregon AG Presses For Immediate Restraining Order Against Federal Officers

As a lawsuit demanding an end to the highly controversial tactics plays out, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a motion for a temporary restraining order Monday. If a federal judge agrees, federal authorities could be immediately hamstrung in enforcing a directive that President Trump has indicated he may expand to other cities.

“The Attorney General of Oregon now asks the federal courts to answer whether the United States Constitution permits federal law enforcement to snatch people in the middle of the night without identifying themselves or explaining the legal basis for their actions,” the motion reads. “She submits that the answer is no …”

The request is the latest step in a battle between state and federal powers that has escalated since early July when federal law enforcement officers began taking an active role in policing protests for racial justice that have played out nightly for weeks. Continue reading.

Trump has made it very, very easy to believe he tried to leverage his position to benefit his golf club

Washington Post logoEvery three months, the White House makes an ostentatious presentation of President Trump donating his salary to a government agency or department. In early March, he donated his $100,000 quarterly salary to the Department of Health and Human Services “to support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat coronavirus.” The amount was equivalent to 0.000008 percent of the agency’s annual budget.

There is income that Trump does accept, of course: income from his stake in the Trump Organization. He earned nearly half a billion dollars in both 2018 and 2019, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, most of it from his private company. While the presidency occupies Trump’s time, the Trump Organization continues to line his pockets.

This unprecedented situation is so well established by now that it barely attracts attention when Trump’s two employers are in conflict or overlap. He spends so much time at Trump properties that, when he leaves the White House early on a Saturday morning, there’s generally no question where he’s headed: to his golf club in Sterling, Va. He has gone there on average about once every two weeks since he took office. It’s just background noise. Continue reading.

‘It’s not good for our democracy’: Calls grow for federal officers to shed camouflage

Washington Post logoAs authorities crack down on protests in Portland, Ore., military leaders, lawmakers and former government officials have intensified calls for federal officers to shed the camouflage and return to wearing uniforms that clearly identify them as law enforcement.

The mobilization of federal agents in military-style camouflage in recent days, and their use of unmarked vans to make arrests, has deepened confusion about which force is doing what.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, said the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies should not allow their officers to wear camouflage. Continue reading.

Political scientist warns Trump may be showing signs of ‘an immature president who refuses to leave the office’

AlterNet logoMuch of the analysis of President Donald Trump’s use of federal Department of Homeland Security officers against protesters in Portland, Oregon has discussed Trump’s actions from a legal or constitutional standpoint. But Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in Massachusetts, contemplates Trump’s possible political motivations in an op-ed published this week in the Washington Post.

“The official version is that federal officers from the Department of Homeland Security are protecting federal buildings that have been the focus of Black Lives Matter protests,” Drezner explains. “The more disturbing version is that unidentified U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel are wearing camouflage gear, assaulting protesters and driving around in unmarked vans picking up random people. These actions have raised questions about the legality of what is being done…. I’ll confine my response to a more concrete question: what is the political gain that Donald Trump and his administration perceive they will garner from these actions?”

Drezner is dismissive of Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf’s claim that Trump is merely using DHS to protect Portland from “violent anarchists.” Continue reading.

Even Republicans are warning Trump’s DHS is turning into ‘the president’s personal militia’

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump gave Democrats yet another reason to oppose his reelection when he bragged about using federal law enforcement officers against George Floyd protesters in Portland, Oregon and threatened to do the same thing in Chicago and other major cities with Democratic mayors. But some Republicans have been speaking out as well, and liberal Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent discusses their objections in his column this week.

“Under fire for dispatching federal law enforcement into cities in defiance of local leaders, in part to create TV imagery that sends an authoritarian thrill up President Trump’s leg, top officials are offering several new defenses,” Sargent writes. “All are profoundly weak, which is why senior members of previous Republican administrations are now condemning what’s happening.”

One of those Republicans is Michael Chertoff, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush. Chertoff, Sargent notes, has described Trump’s use of DHS officers as “very problematic” and “very unsettling.” Continue reading.

Recent Spikes in Coronavirus Cases Highlight Critical Need for More Federal Elections Funding

Center for American Progress logoWhen it comes to administering elections during a public health emergency, there is no silver bullet. All states must be prepared for COVID-19 to disrupt elections in innumerable ways, even where officials take affirmative action to mitigate potential problems. Vote by mail and expanded in-person voting, including at least two weeks of early voting, are strong policies that will go a long way in protecting the right to vote while helping to ensure the health and safety of Americans voters and society at large.

But to implement these policies successfully and bolster election infrastructure to contend with a pandemic, states need support from Congress, as state budgets simply cannot cover all necessary costs. Although the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided states $400 million in emergency election funding, at least $3.6 billion more from Congress is needed to ensure all voters can safely participate in upcoming elections. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on May 15, would provide states and localities with this essential funding.

The United States is running up against the clock to prepare for November’s general election. Unless Congress provides more emergency funding for elections immediately, countless Americans will be forced to choose between their health and the fundamental right to vote. This is especially true for voters residing in states hit hardest by the pandemic, which are now experiencing recent surges, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In those places, entire populations are at risk of further outbreaks if Congress fails in its duty to provide jurisdictions with sufficient resources for carrying out safe and inclusive elections this year. Continue reading.

Trump announces he’s sending federal agents to Chicago

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Wednesday his administration is sending federal law enforcement officers into Chicago and Albuquerque, expanding his controversial crackdown on what he claims is an unchecked surge of violence in Democratic-run cities.

“Today I am announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime,” Trump said in remarks from the East Room of the White House.

He added he had “no choice but to get involved.” Continue reading.

Post office concerns highlighted at Senate hearing on elections amid COVID-19

Will the postal service deliver ballots on time for votes to be counted in November?

“The post office is a very difficult situation for us right now.”

That’s how Rick Stream, a Republican elections official from St. Louis County in Missouri, responded to a question Wednesday at a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing about concerns over mail-in and absentee ballots not getting to election officials on time as the U.S. Postal Service faces funding and logistical challenges.

Stream said that within his jurisdiction, the percentage of absentee voters jumped from about 10 percent seen in normal circumstances to 45 percent in the most recent election, and he expected that figure to increase with legal mail-in voting in November. Continue reading.

Trump’s Wag-the-Dog War

New York Times logoThe president is looking for a dangerous domestic enemy to fight.

Some presidents, when they get into trouble before an election, try to “wag the dog” by starting a war abroad. Donald Trump seems ready to wag the dog by starting a war at home. Be afraid — he just might get his wish.

How did we get here? Well, when historians summarize the Trump team’s approach to dealing with the coronavirus, it will take only a few paragraphs:

“They talked as if they were locking down like China. They acted as if they were going for herd immunity like Sweden. They prepared for neither. And they claimed to be superior to both. In the end, they got the worst of all worlds — uncontrolled viral spread and an unemployment catastrophe. Continue reading.