US Elections Kamala Harris could still be the next US president — even after Trump's election

[Maciamo]

This is not a joke and I'm not delusional. I'm also not contesting that Donald Trump has won the US election. But he's only going to become president in two and a half months. In the meantime Kamala Harris could still be president if Joe Biden steps down.

She is in a very unique position as a vice president in office serving under a president who already stepped down then her favour in the middle of the presidential election campaign, something which never happened before in US history. Joe Biden, who is going to turn 82 later this month, is the oldest US president ever to hold office and he could easily claim poor health as a reason for quitting and letting Harris take over as president until 20th January.

Why would Biden do that? Well, first as a way for the Democrats of thumb their nose at Trump. It would also ensure that Kamala Harris's name stays forever in the list of US presidents, adding one more Democratic president to the list. That would also add the historical precedent of the first woman serving as US president to the benefits of the Democrats (and directly attributable to Joe Biden).

There may still be enough time for Harris to pass some of the reforms she intended to, notably for the criminal justice system, such as reducing mass incarceration and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenses.

Kamala Harris would also benefit from special privileges as a former US president, such as office space and staff, and secret service protection.

If that were to happen Trump would also become the first US president to have serve twice between two other presidents.

 

[Maciamo]

It is very common in Japan for Prime ministers to quit after just a few months to let their party colleagues let their place. Of course it's a collectivist country and that shows even in the higher circles of politics. Instead of bickering between themselves as to who will rule the country, there is a quiet convention between top politicians to assume office for only a short period of time so that their friends can also have a chance to add their name to the list of prime ministers. It's all about honour and prestige. This way all the top dogs are satisfied.

It also reminds me of the role of suffect consul in ancient Rome (both during the Republic and the Empire). There were two consuls elected for one year; a senior and a junior one, which is a bit similar to the president and vice president system. But if one of the councils were to die (at war, of natural causes or otherwise) or step down for any reason, a suffect consul would be chosen by the senate to replace him for the rest of the year.

In one famous cases Julius Caesar had promised one of his legacy is in Gaul, Gaius Caninius Rebilus, to make him a consul. When one of the consuls died on the last day of December 45 BCE, Caninius replaced him as suffect consul for less than 24h. It was more symbolic than anything else but as a former consul he could become a proconsul (a necessary step to become governor of a province). This is an extreme case. There has been hundreds of suffect consuls in Roman history and most of them served for several months. During the Principate it was actually common to decide in advance that one person would be consul for the first six months of the year and a suffect consul would replace him for the second half of the year (without anybody needing to die).

 

[Tamakore]

This is not a joke and I'm not delusional. I'm also not contesting that Donald Trump has won the US election. But he's only going to become president in two and a half months. In the meantime Kamala Harris could still be president if Joe Biden steps down.

She is in a very unique position as a vice president in office serving under a president who already stepped down then her favour in the middle of the presidential election campaign, something which never happened before in US history. Joe Biden, who is going to turn 82 later this month, is the oldest US president ever to hold office and he could easily claim poor health as a reason for quitting and letting Harris take over as president until 20th January.

Why would Biden do that? Well, first as a way for the Democrats of thumb their nose at Trump. It would also ensure that Kamala Harris's name stays forever in the list of US presidents, adding one more Democratic president to the list. That would also add the historical precedent of the first woman serving as US president to the benefits of the Democrats (and directly attributable to Joe Biden).

There may still be enough time for Harris to pass some of the reforms she intended to, notably for the criminal justice system, such as reducing mass incarceration and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenses.

Kamala Harris would also benefit from special privileges as a former US president, such as office space and staff, and secret service protection.

If that were to happen Trump would also become the first US president to have serve twice between two other presidents.

There may be some Democrats who would like this to happen. However, I think Biden would reject such a suggestion. It would play into the Republican narrative that Biden is not only unfit to serve another four years, he's been unfit to be President for some time due to his cognitive decline, and the Democrats have been covering that up.

Another scenario is that Biden will conveniently die before 20th January. He's had heart problems before, so there would be no need for an autopsy.

Even she did become President, Kamala Harris would be unlikely to get any significant reforms passed because the current House has a Republican majority. Any executive orders she issued could be immediately reversed by Trump.

Also, if the Democrats do have a woman Presidential nominee in the future, she could only become the second woman to be President, so she won't be able to run on a "time to break the ultimate glass ceiling" vibe. The glass ceiling would already be broken, but not in a meaningful way.