House Republicans are calling on President Biden to resign from office after he announced that he would no longer seek reelection, arguing that he should not continue to serve in the White House if he is unable to run for another term.
The comments — several of which were from House GOP leadership — came shortly after Biden said he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, a seismic announcement that rocked the political world and left the path forward for Democrats uncertain.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X. “November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
I don’t think Republicans thought this through.
If Biden resigns, Harris becomes President now.. And since she’d be serving less than half a term, it doesn’t count against her two-term limit. The GOP are acting like they’d somehow get to choose who replaces Biden or something.
And they’d be basically giving Harris a six month or so opportunity to show voters that she can do the job. Why the fuck would you want to give your opponent an opportunity like that?
I want to play poker with some of the morons who come up with these ideas. I’d own their house in an hour, and they’d still be paying the mortgage. And it’s not that I’m even that good at poker. But if you’re dumb enough to actually think this is a good idea, I damn well know I can take your money with a 3 of diamonds and a basic forest from Magic the Gathering.
The one upside for the Republicans of Harris becoming POTUS right now is that she’d no longer be able to break any ties in the Senate, letting them bring both houses of Congress to a halt.
Harris would just name a new VP to break any ties in the Senate.
25th Amendment, Section 2:
Between the do-nothing House and the hypothetically deadlocked Senate, it’d never happen. Besides, without a VP, the Speaker of the House is the next in line for the Presidency.
That’s not how the line of succession works, though. A25S2 says precisely what happens if there’s a VP vacancy, but not a presidential vacancy.
The Speaker gets bumped to President if BOTH VP and President are vacant.
That said, I’m sure the Tribunal of Six can come up with some sort of creative interpretation to apply things in a blatantly biased and partisan fashion.
So nothing changes then.
But if Harris became president now, It would also give Republicans six months to absolutely demolish the country and blame it on her. And they would, too. They would actively seek to damage the nation if they thought it would let them get Trump in.
What would they really be able to do that they’re not doing now though?
The Mike Johnsons and MTGs of the House can rabble-rouse all they want. They can pass all the terrible bills they want. It’s all DOA in the Senate. Schumer will request that all bills are sent over on toilet paper so at least he’ll have some use for it when he gets it. That’s stuff they’re going to do already. Do you honestly think Johnson is going to even bring anything of substance to the floor between now and November unless it’s a direct attack on Democrats? The only thing you’re going to hear for the next few months are nothing but terrible messaging bills, conspiracy theories, and red meat for their racist base. Whether Biden or Harris is in charge, none of that is really likely to change.
They want her to own as much of Biden’s policies as possible. Making her president makes her own it all.