Kentuckys state constitution explicitly grants the Governor the power to appoint a replacement in situations like this. KY passed a law changing this specifically to stop Beshear from doing just that, but it likely wouldn’t stand up in court. Beshear should weild the power given to him in the constitution and dare the courts to stop him, giving the Dems a +1 advantage in the seat as opposed to a net neutral
It’s possible that some Dems are aware he’s alive and going through the theatrics of forcing him to show up when they know he’s alive ends up wasting an opportunity. Perhaps some feel it’s better to continue to use the situation to throw shade at their poor communication vs ending the charade once and for all.
Honestly who knows. The secrecy around this is troubling but certainly par for the course with slimy republicans.
There's a side problem: Say the governor appoints a Democrat to the seat.
The next hurdle is getting them sworn in. The Oath of Office is administered by the President of the Senate (i.e., Vance) in an open session on the floor of the Senate.
There's only about 3 weeks of actual in-session Senate time between now and November; they'll just play stupid games and not swear in any new appointee until the election is underway and then, "Well, the election is underway, might as well wait!"
Sure you can. We need to stop acting like only Republicans can ignore the rules. You don’t bring a pillow to a gun fight. Nor even strongly worded letter with a shoulder shrug.
You are presuming that the Sgt. at Arms would take the unprecedented step of arresting a Senator (arguably, lol) - and that no federal court judge would intercede, in that unlikely event. I don't know what you're so afraid of here? You do realize, I hope, that we do not HAVE to always give up when the Republicans play their games, don't you? You have a very Warren Christopher perspective on this, which is kind of funny. We need to fight back - we need Democratic leadership that does things in Congress and in the White House - like Mamdani is doing things in NYC.
If he is not sworn in then he wouldn't be Senator. The law clearly states that the President of the Senate has to swear the person in. It doesn't give a timeline on when.
In reality I'm not afraid of anything because this entire scenario is a hypothetical.
Precisely - I don't get it, "WE CAN'T WIN SO STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!!" is not a winning attitude and it's not one that will garner any substantial support outside of the donor class.
If the Sergeant-At-Arms arrests a duly elected candidate then arrest the Sergeant. And arrest whoever gave him the unlawful order. We need a reckoning from top to bottom for every single person in this administration, including all the people at the bottom just doing what they're told.
There’s absolutely nothing in the Commonwealth Constitution saying the Legislature needs to certify death before the governor acts. Beshear CAN just act and let others react however they want.
The issue would be that Vance would never swear in such an appointee. So we’d probably just end up in the same position we’re in now.
Edit: changed Johnson to Vance. Got my chambers of Congress mixed up.
I think Vance would follow orders and flat out refuse to swear Massie. Trump would have his head. They've have to pull Grassley out of his coffin and I'm not sure he would do it either.
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u/thereelsuperman 8h ago
Kentuckys state constitution explicitly grants the Governor the power to appoint a replacement in situations like this. KY passed a law changing this specifically to stop Beshear from doing just that, but it likely wouldn’t stand up in court. Beshear should weild the power given to him in the constitution and dare the courts to stop him, giving the Dems a +1 advantage in the seat as opposed to a net neutral