I really didn’t want to write about outgoing President
Donald Trump again this month, but he’s still the president, and his behavior
is increasingly … I don’t know the right word, really. Unsettling? Dangerous?
Disturbing? All of the above?
Whatever the description, his efforts to undermine democracy
and somehow overturn the lawfully conducted election have continued and become
more desperate. As the Washington Post puts it: “Trump has turned to a ragtag
group of conspiracy theorists, media-hungry lawyers and other political
misfits,” including unfortunately several members of the House, to somehow make
the impossible happen.
There’s no reason to fear that Trump will actually succeed.
He can issue all the bogus executive orders he wants to confiscate voting
machines in states he didn’t win, but honest election administrators and
elected officials in those states (Democrats and Republicans) won’t follow
those illegal orders. Nor will the courts take Trump’s side. The even more
outlandish talk about declaring martial law and somehow holding new
“elections”? Again, presidents simply don’t have the authority to do it. And
any attempt to ignore the law and do it anyway won’t work when Republican
officials aren’t close to being unified behind it. Even previously loyal
Attorney General Bill Barr shot down some of Trump’s other (also unlawful)
demands on Monday.
As far as attempts to throw out the regularly chosen
electors when Congress meets in a joint session on Jan. 6 to record their
votes? The House, with its Democratic majority, certainly won’t do that. And
Senate Majority Whip John Thune made it clear that even if Republicans retain
their majority they have no interest in such a scheme: “I think the thing they
got to remember is, it’s not going anywhere. I mean in the Senate, it would go
down like a shot dog.” And a congressional challenge to the electors, while
utterly without merit and undemocratic, is still less nutty than some of the
other things Trump’s team is considering.
That Trump will not succeed, however, doesn’t make his talk
and actions harmless. Each time he breaks another guardrail, he makes it that
much easier for the next would-be autocrat to do the same. Each time he acts as
if it’s perfectly normal that election results should turn on raw political
power, rather than on what the voters say, he makes it more likely that future
elected officials will attempt to do just that. Each time he lies about
fictional voter fraud — and he still hasn’t come close to producing evidence
for even small irregularities in the election — he not only convinces his
strongest supporters that the election was stolen, but he degrades everyone’s faith
in all election returns.
The question is what can be done about this. The answer,
alas, is not much. I’ve previously argued that President-elect Joe Biden is
correct to downplay Trump’s nonsense, and I still think that’s true. Nor is
there much for House Democrats to do. Sure, they could return to Washington and
hold hearings, but what is there really to say? They could impeach Trump a
second time, a fate he richly deserves. But unless Republicans in the Senate
were on board, there wouldn’t be much of a point to that either.
Those
Senate Republicans are the ones who could put a stop to it all. They
could threaten to remove Trump if he persists. (Yes, there’s not enough time
for the House to do a regular impeachment process and for the Senate to hold a
full trial, but neither are required by the constitution — if the votes were there, both
chambers could get it done in a week.) Such a threat might be enough to
ensure they wouldn’t actually have to go through with it. Or they could follow
up on what Thune said Monday and make a more public condemnation of the
president. Even if that didn’t stop him, it might reduce the damage.
But it’s also not likely to happen, since attacking Trump would risk their own popularity and future re-elections. (Trump is already attacking Senator Mitch McConnell for accepting the election results weeks after they were clear.) It also would put their majority at immediate risk, given that Trump could react by urging his supporters to stay home in the upcoming Georgia runoff elections. But we should be clear: Outside of the people actively plotting with the president, it’s Republican senators who bear the most responsibility for constantly enabling him when they could’ve reined him in. It’s a sorry record.
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