House to vote on resolution affirming peaceful transition of power

The House is slated to vote next week on a resolution that would reaffirm the chamber’s support for a peaceful transfer of power after President Trump this week declined to commit to it if he loses reelection.

The vote will come after the Senate passed a similar resolution on Thursday by unanimous consent to affirm a hallmark of American democracy.

The House version is listed under a series of bills set to receive floor votes next week under an expedited process that requires a two-thirds supermajority for passage, indicating that it is expected to receive bipartisan support. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who controls the schedule, confirmed Friday it will be on the floor next week.

The resolution, authored by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), does not explicitly mention Trump’s comments this week.

Instead, the two page resolution states that the House “reaffirms its commitment to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power called for in the Constitution of the United States” and “intends that there should be no disruptions by the President or any person in power to overturn the will of the people of the United States.”

Trump on Wednesday said that he would have to “see what happens” when asked if he would commit to a peaceful transition of power and tried to sow doubt, without evidence, about the reliability of voting by mail.

“Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation,” Trump said. “The ballots are out of control. You know it, and you know who knows it better than anyone else? The Democrats know it better than anyone else.”

Trump has repeatedly declined to say if he will accept the election results if he loses the election to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

When asked during an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News in July whether he would accept the election results, Trump said he would “have to see” and dismissed polls that showed him trailing Biden as “fake.”

Trump on Thursday again repeated his claims about mailed-in ballots and declined to walk back his previous remarks.

“We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be. I don’t know that it can be, with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots,” Trump said.

Top GOP lawmakers distanced themselves from Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power on Thursday, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792,” McConnell tweeted.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the second-highest ranking Senate Republican, indicated that he believed Republicans would stand up to Trump if he refused to accept the election results.

“Republicans believe in the rule of law. We believe in the Constitution and that’s what dictates what happens … so yes,” Thune said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tore into Trump’s comments on Thursday and said it was “very sad” that reporters felt compelled to ask about the possibility of the president refusing to concede if he lost the election.

“I remind him, you are not in North Korea. You are not in Turkey. You are not in Russia, Mr. President,” Pelosi said at a press conference in the Capitol. “You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy.”

“So why don’t you just try for a moment to honor your oath of office, to the Constitution of the United States?” Pelosi said.