Well, howdy there, internet people, it spell again.

So today, we're going to talk about whether Trump can cancel the midterm elections.

We've had a number of questions and comments on this, and I normally just say there's no mechanism for that.

We're just going to run through some key things that get

lost and ignored when this topic comes up. Here's the big thing. The federal government does not run the

elections. The states do. If Trump says the elections are canceled, the states would have to agree and have to play along.

Do you see Newsom saying, sure, buddy, I'll cancel the election for you?

Unlikely, right?

But what about the states where the governors would play along?

And sadly, there would probably be some.

Well, the states that play along lose representation in Congress. The current representatives and senators up for re-election don't get to

stay in office. Let's hit the basic constitutional aspect. The 20th Amendment says plainly, quote, the terms of the

president and the vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January and the terms of

senators and representatives at noon on the third day of January.

Their terms still end.

What happens with those empty seats?

Well, in the House, when vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. That's the Constitution.

They remain empty until an election. The Senate is a little different and in most states the

governor can appoint someone. So, states that cooperate with some future push by Trump would lose representation,

and it would guarantee a Republican loss of the House. Now, any state that wanted to cooperate

would have to push it through their state legislature. And let's be real, Trump has less

sway over state legislatures than he does

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