{"id":5311,"date":"2026-08-25T17:52:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5311"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:52:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:52:45","slug":"the-legal-loophole-republicans-have-to-save-trump-ex-federal-prosecutor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5311","title":{"rendered":"The ‘legal loophole’ Republicans have to save Trump: ex-federal prosecutor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With the polls raising red flags for Republican midterm chances and President Donald Trump making their situation worse on a near-daily basis, a former federal prosecutor warns that MAGA lawmakers have a \u201cplot to keep power in Congress\u201d even if they lose. This is according to the Hill legal analyst James Zirin<\/u>, who wrote on Tuesday of a \u201clegal loophole\u201d Republicans might use to \u201csubvert the will of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018desperate\u2019 endorsement in Texas is about to blow up in his face<\/a><\/p>\n

As Zirin explains, \u201cDemocrats are widely expected to win control of the House in November\u2019s election. The Senate remains a tossup. But there is a nagging suspicion that Trump will somehow pervert the will of the people to ensure that Republicans retain their majority in the House and somehow steal the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Zirin, the playbook is alarmingly simple. First, Trump and MAGA Republicans will \u201cdemonize the Democrats,\u201d and already are, conjuring the McCarthy-esque accusations that their opponents are \u201chard core, godless Communists.\u201d Then, \u201cTrump will delegitimize eligible voters. He will scare them away from the polls by posting federal agents at their voting places or discouraging them by disparaging mail-in ballots.\u201d But the \u201ccrusher,\u201d writes Zirin, is that if the outcome is close, \u201chis minions can refuse to seat elected Democrats by reason of a yawning loophole in how congressional elections are administered.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Constitution provides, \u201cEach house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.\u201d In this context, explains Zirin, \u201cA losing House candidate may contest his or her election. The issue is decided by a simple majority vote. The new House can refuse to seat the winner while the challenge is pending. If things are close, Republicans may even temporarily hold a majority. Thus, even if Democrats only narrowly win a House majority, one or more defeated Republican candidates might try to deny office to their Democratic opponents. The Senate has its own rules for dealing with contested elections and normally seats the certified winner without prejudice.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in 2021 Mike Pence refused to go down that path, \u201cfollowing the advice of his courageous lawyer, retired Judge J. Michael Luttig, who persuaded him that our constitutional traditions required an orderly transfer of power and the election result must be respected,\u201d House Speaker Mike Johnson \u201cis no Mike Pence. A card-carrying election-denier, Johnson once filed in the Supreme Court claiming there were \u2018unconstitutional irregularities\u2019 in 2020 election outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Georgia GOP candidate says \u2018federal troops\u2019 will \u2018watch\u2019 midterm elections<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is exactly why I fear that Republicans have a legal loophole to subvert the will of the people,\u201d writes Zirin. \u201cThe 2026 midterms could thus be a decisive test of U.S. democratic norms, with the potential for a constitutional crisis if elected members are denied seats.\u201d Scarier still, he warns, is that challenges can be based on virtually anything. \u201cDefeated contestants could claim that their state\u2019s refusal to turn over voter rolls to the Trump administration meant the election was corrupt. They could argue that the Senate\u2019s refusal to pass the SAVE Act<\/u> allowed illegal immigrants to vote for their opponents in large numbers. They could try to cast doubt on mail-in ballots.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Zirin, with Trump\u2019s approval at historical lows and still falling, and candidates running under his endorsement losing with increasing frequency, Republicans who are tied to the president\u2019s sinking ship are becoming panicked as the midterms approach. And as Zirin notes, Trump personally \u201chas a big stake in the outcome aside from just his hatred of losing. He does not want to face congressional investigations, much less potential impeachment for corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

With all that in mind, concludes Zirin, \u201cIt is entirely possible that we will run a reprise of 2020, when the outcome of a narrow election beclouded with accusations of fraud, and MAGA determined to retain control. The hope is only fleeting that men like Johnson have enough honesty and integrity to keep the nation from a constitutional crisis. Whatever you learned in school, it is ultimately the House and the Senate deciding who sits in Congress \u2014 not the American people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more National Guard members feel \u2018exploited\u2019 by Trump\u2019s DC deployment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the polls raising red flags for Republican midterm chances and President Donald Trump making their situation worse on a near-daily basis, a former federal prosecutor warns that MAGA lawmakers have a \u201cplot to keep power in Congress\u201d even if they lose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 'legal loophole' Republicans have to save Trump: ex-federal prosecutor - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 'legal loophole' Republicans have to save Trump: ex-federal prosecutor - 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