Joe Biden, the 47th vice president of the United States, was the featured guest for the Tom Johnson Lectureship at the LBJ Presidential Library on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017.
10/03/2017 LBJ Library photo by Jay Godwin
Not to diminish the Obama administration’s former VP, but at a recent online fundraiser, Joe Biden opined, “Mark my words, I think he (Trump) is going to try to kick back the election somehow.”
Before getting unnecessarily wadded up, Joe and his supporters might start with the text of the Constitution, upon which the 20th Amendment is exceedingly clear:
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.
There’s no clause that allows presidents to remain in office beyond 20 January. Nor is there a clause to invoke some emergency power to extend a term of office.
Observes Derek Mueller, visiting professor at Notre Dame Law School, in the WSJ:
Congress appropriated $400 million in election-security grants to states as a part of the Cares Act in March. States are using this money to improve safety for poll workers and voters, and to meet increased demand for mail-in ballots.
Mr. Biden should stop worrying:
There’s nothing Mr. Trump can do to stop the election from happening.
