WATCH: Pompeo Refuses to Say If Trump Can Move Election Date, Says AG Barr Will Determine
On Thursday, several hours after President Donald Trump tweeted a suggestion that the 2020 election should be delayed, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testified in a Senate hearing that the Department of Justice, led by Attorney General William Barr, would make a legal determination whether Trump could announce that he was moving the election date.
The issue arose after a question from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Kaine asked Pompeo under what legal authority the president thought he could change the election. The election is scheduled for November 3.
As noted by the New York Times back in March, the election date is determined by federal law and not a matter that a president has the power to change unilaterally. Congress would have to pass a bill — a highly unlikely proposition considering the divided control of the House and Senate — and assuming Trump would sign it into law, the new date would be subject to an immediate court challenge.
The Constitution provides further limits on any changes to the election schedule, establishing the date that the new members of Congress are sworn in as January 3, and the president January 20. These dates cannot be changed without a constitutional amendment — a proposition even less likely than Congressional action on this issue.
Kaine brought up the topic, noting that neither he nor Pompeo were expecting to talk about this because Trump had posted his tweet while the hearing was beginning, reading a quote from Trump’s tweet, and remarking that the president was “raising the question” whether the election could be delayed.
“Can a president delay the November presidential election, Mr. Secretary?” asked Kaine.
“Senator, I’m not going to enter a legal judgment on the fly this morning,” replied Pompeo.
Kaine then rattled off some bullet points from Pompeo’s resume — an honors graduate from West Point, graduate of the Harvard Law School, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, and an accomplished lawyer in private practice before joining the Trump administration.
“You are one of the most highly trained and accomplished lawyers who are part of this administration,” Kaine said, and posed the question again, “Can a president delay a presidential election?”
Pompeo again demurred, and said, “In the end, the Department of Justice, and others, will make that legal determination.”
“We all should want — I know you do, too, Senator Kaine — want to make sure to have an election that everyone is confident in,” Pompeo continued.
“Are you indifferent to the date of the election?” Kaine pressed.
“It should happen lawfully,” said Pompeo.
Kaine continued to push Pompeo for an answer “on the record” about whether Trump could delay the November 3 election.
“A president cannot delay an election,” said Kaine. “The date of the election is established by Congress. It was established in 1845. There is no ability for a president to delay an election — and I don’t think it’s that hard of a question or one that should lead to any equivocation by someone who’s fourth in line of succession to be president.”
Watch the video above, via CSPAN.
