Good. More of a strong possibility amongst others than a prediction but I'm not going to quibble now.
Trump has threatened to challenge any election he loses and to remain in office for several terms.
A few scenarios -
"According to Rosa Brooks, head of the Transition Integrity Project, three out of four election gaming scenarios have resulted in an unprecedented constitutional crisis placing the country on the verge of civil war. In these scenarios, both Biden and Trump claim to be the legitimate president at 12:00 PM on January 20."
“Crucially, a contested outcome lasting beyond Jan. 20 would force the military to make an implicit decision about who is commander in chief. According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, Trump would cease to be president on noon of Jan. 20 if Congress does not certify him as the winner, passing his authority as commander in chief of the military to the acting president, the speaker of the House of Representatives.”
In one scenario gamed by group participants, “the White House might call on the military to protect the president or, more likely, respond to potential protests on ‘law and order’ grounds, possibly leading the president to follow through with earlier threats to send active-duty troops to American cities or take control of state-commanded National Guard members.”
"Facing contradictory orders, officials who follow orders issued by the wrong commander-in-chief would be subject to arrest and prosecution for “failing to impede mutiny or sedition,” which carries the death penalty."
"It is not only Trump who may appeal to the military to intervene and physically determine the outcome of the election. Earlier this year, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden warned that if Trump refused to vacate the White House, the military “will escort him from the White House with great dispatch.”
Marquette law professor Risa Brooks, told the Post: “In so many ways it looks like the military is going to have to be thinking about its role in domestic politics in ways it normally doesn’t.”
Adding to the air of uncertainty, the Constitution also mandates that the incoming Congress elected in November be seated on January 3, more than two weeks before the inauguration of the president. Most polls show Democrats maintaining control over the lower house, thereby placing the Democratic speaker, currently Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in line to serve as acting president.
But if the election is delayed or if legal challenges produce enough congressional vacancies to prevent a Democratic-controlled House from electing a speaker by January 20, the Senate president pro tem would become acting president.
That position is currently held by Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), but control of the Senate in the upcoming election is uncertain. If the election produces a 50-50 tie in the Senate, the constitution has no answer for who would become president pro tem (and therefore acting president), since there would be no elected vice president to preside over a Senate tie.
To add even more confusion, if the election is delayed, only 65 senators would remain in the Senate (those not subject to election this year), and a majority of those remaining would be Democrats.
On top of the possibility Republicans may flee Washington to prevent Democrats from establishing a quorum, state governors may also decide to appoint senators to fill the 35 vacancies. Since Republicans control a majority of governorships, the position of Senate president pro tem—and therefore of acting president—could remain up for grabs.With everything subject to legal challenge, it is possible that on January 20, nobody will know who the president is.
