Pelosi out to block Trump if disputed election ends in House
Under election law the House would intervene if the Electoral College gave no presidential candidate the majority Jan. 6. “There ain't no light at the end of the tunnel in the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said at a recent press conference. The president can be selected by a House majority — 26 states — if the Electoral College deadlocks or is unable to agree on the winner. Another is Montana, where Democratic former state Rep. Kathleen Williams and Republican state Auditor Matt Rosendale are vying for the state's lone at-large seat. Veteran GOP election lawyer Ben Ginsberg said there’s a long ways to go from election day Nov. 3 and a potential House vote on Jan. 6.
Third parties could play a lesser role in 2020 campaign
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – In close elections, it doesn't take much for third-party candidates to play an outsize role — as Democrats learned the hard way in 2016. A vital third-party candidate would likely help him tremendously.”But third-party candidates are facing hurdles that didn't exist four years ago, potentially weakening their impact. In a court decision last week, the Green Party candidate was barred from appearing on Pennsylvania’s ballot. “I saw last time, there’s no hope in a third-party candidate in this basically two-party system that we have. But the president’s team, which has denied playing a role in West’s bid, has done little game-planning for a third-party candidate.
Trump critic and ex-GOP Rep. Justin Amash will decide soon whether he will run for president
Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., is seen on the House steps of the Capitol before the House passed a $2 trillion coronavirus aid package by voice vote on Friday, March 27, 2020. Rep. Justin Amash, a former Republican who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, is getting close to making a decision about a third-party bid for the White House, his campaign said Wednesday. In a statement Wednesday, his campaign said: "In mid-February, Justin Amash paused active campaigning for his congressional seat to carefully consider a presidential run. Since then, he has continued to position himself as a Trump critic, receiving heat from top GOP officials and from the president himself. In an extension of the rivalry between Amash and the president, Donald Trump Jr. said in June that he planned to campaign against him during the primary.
cnbc.comIndependent Justin Amash approves impeachment resolution
(CNN) - Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a former Republican turned independent, voted with House Democrats to approve a resolution to formalize the procedures of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The final vote on the resolution was 232-196, passing largely on party lines. Amash, who left the Republican Party in July, joined his Democratic colleagues to support the resolution, which outlines the procedural details for how the House will move its impeachment inquiry into its next phase. Not a single House Republican broke rank to support the resolution. On Thursday, two Democrats, Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Collin Peterson, split with their party to vote against the resolution.
Amash: Republicans wish they weren't 'trapped' into defending Trump
Asked by CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday night whether those around the President were essentially forced to lie in order to defend Trump, Amash replied, "Yeah, and it's a shame." Amash left the Republican Party this past summer and became an independent after he became the sole GOP lawmaker to publicly argue that Trump had engaged in impeachable conduct. "I think they know better and I think, deep down, they wish they weren't, you know, trapped in this position," Amash said on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." I hear them talk about how they wish they weren't doing this." "Anyone working in this administration is going to have a hard time explaining what's going on," Amash told Burnett.
House Republican supports impeachment inquiry process playing out
2016 Getty ImagesWASHINGTON (CNN) - Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei said Friday he supports the process playing out in the formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, but said he does not support impeaching the President. Amodei is the first House Republican to publicly show support for the inquiry since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of the probe this week. "In no way, shape, or form, did I indicate support for impeachment," Amodei clarified in a later statement. Michigan Rep. Justin Amash was the only House Republican to publicly argue that Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct before announcing this summer he was leaving the Republican Party. "I don't know that it's a smoking gun or whatever," Amodei said of the transcript released by the White House of the conversation between the two leaders.
Newsletter: Today: SoCals Seismic Calm Is Over
The largest earthquake in Southern California in two decades marks the end of a quiet period in the states seismic history. It left residents near the epicenter in Ridgecrest and Kern County shaken, where there were reports of some moderate injuries, damage to stores and structure fires. For most of Southern California, the largest earthquake in two decades ended a period of seismic calm and served as a reminder to be prepared for the next one. Government biologists say the germ that causes white-nose syndrome has been found in a number of bats found near Lassen Volcanic National Park. More and more of the fruit is coming from Malaysia, where one man is known as the Durian King.
latimes.comThe only Republican to say Trump engaged in impeachable conduct is leaving the GOP
Michigan Representative Justin Amash, the only Republican in Congress who said President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct, announced on the 4th of July that he's leaving the GOP. "Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party," Amash wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post. Mr. Trump wasted no time in hitting back, without basis calling Amash one of the "dumbest" members of the GOP. "Great news for the Republican Party as one of the dumbest & most disloyal men in Congress is 'quitting' the Party," the president tweeted Thursday morning. Amash's op-ed made no direct mention of Mr. Trump or anyone else in the Republican Party, and it did not solely blame the GOP for partisanship.
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