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From: TT
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Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP / TT
It is not yet clear who will be the next president of the United States and he may move into the White House. Stock Photography.
The vote count is not yet complete. But when a winner is chosen in the US presidential election, what happens then?
Here, American researcher Charly Salonius-Pasternak from the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute answers some questions.
TT: Is there any risk that the new president may not take office until January 20, 2021 as planned?
– According to the constitution, there must always be a president, so on January 21 someone will have that title, no matter what the road is like. If, against all odds, it were completely impossible to nominate a winner in the elections, this would be the Speaker, that is, Nancy Pelosi. In the United States, there is no possibility of operating without a functioning government. However, it does so in many European countries, for example Belgium, where the country lacked a government for more than a year.
TT: Besides the presidency, what other positions should be filled prior to the presidential installation if there is a change of power?
– Before January 20, important Cabinet posts must be filled. In normal cases, a presidential candidate has prepared lists of who these people should be, I suppose Biden has. However, this is not always the case, after the last election four years ago, we saw that Trump missed several of these people after being declared the winner.
TT: Why is it important to know in advance who these people are?
– It is an advantage to know who these people can be as far in advance as possible so that the transfer of power is carried out in the most orderly way possible. Take the defense minister as an example, when he takes office, you have to know what is going on in defense policy. You have to know all the twists and turns in the latest development with North Korea, if you haven’t heard this, it will be difficult to take over the job. The less time there is for this, the more difficult it will be for the United States.
TT: What other personnel, besides the ministers, will be replaced in the event of a change of power?
– All senior positions within the ministries will be replaced, including all ambassadors. In all, there are thousands of people and it takes time to find all of these and then get Senate approval.
TT: If Biden wins, is there a real risk that Trump will refuse to hand over power?
– Now it seems that there is a risk that Trump will not recognize the result of the elections in the same way that his predecessor did. This runs the risk that the incoming Biden administration will not receive the support it should receive to get started quickly and efficiently. I don’t think the risk is that someone is forced to remove Trump from the White House, I hope they retain much of their dignity. On the other hand, we see that he is already trying to make the transition to Biden as difficult as possible by delaying the process and questioning the legitimacy of the elections.
TT: Is there anything that can prevent Biden from taking power if he wins the election?
– Trump and his campaign have claimed that there are irregularities in the way elections were conducted in some states, but there is no external evidence to suggest this. In such a situation, the Supreme Court cannot go in and overturn the outcome of a top-down election.
TT: If Trump wins, is there anything that could prevent him from taking office?
– No I dont think so. If it doesn’t seem like something went wrong with the vote tally, I have a hard time seeing that Biden wouldn’t admit defeat.
TT: There has been talk in the past that Trump could be the subject of a lawsuit, could this prevent him from serving another term?
– As long as Trump is president, he is protected from civil lawsuits, so the only possibility would be if he once again tries to start a lawsuit. That doesn’t seem likely, since that decision is made by the Senate, which appears to remain under Republican control. In the unlikely scenario that the Democrats lose the White House but win the Senate, then maybe this is possible, otherwise I don’t think so.
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