by Daveda Gruber
Even President Trump brought it up. Is it possible that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi could become president if the 2020 election is delayed or if the Electoral College has not yet named a successor?
Well, it depends on lots other factors.
Judge Andrew Napolitano, who is a senior judicial analyst for FOX News, has a theory.
While on FOX Business with Stuart Varney, Napolitano said, “It might be right. President Trump’s term ends at precisely noon on Jan. 20, 2021. If the Electoral College has not yet named a successor, presumably either Donald Trump or Joe Biden, then whoever is the speaker of the House would become the acting president of the United States.”
He went on to say, “If the Democrats retain their majority in the House, and it appears likely that they will, but if they do, and if they choose Mrs. Pelosi, knowing at that point that they’re choosing the president of the United States, then it would be she.”
The judge added, “Stated simply, whoever is the sitting speaker of the United States, would become president at noon on Jan. 20, 2021, if the Electoral College has failed to elect someone.”
So then, if the House gets flipped, the Speaker of the House would be a Republican. That person would likely be House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and he would become the interim president.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and an absolute majority of at least 270 electoral votes is required to win the election.
But I see another scenario that could happen. If ballots are not counted because of mail in ballots and the Post office’s inability to deliver them in time, the Electoral College doesn’t have the ability to see who was elected. They also don’t know who would have the majority in the House or the Senate, for that matter.
According to the Constitution, Congress would run the country. But then the outgoing Congress would not be known nor would the incoming Congress be known.
That would lead to an unprecedented situation. There is no law in place that would cover this type of a circumstance.
Hopefully, enough votes will be counted to determine a winner.
My prediction is that when all is said and done, we will have re-elected Trump.
