The Republican leaders of the Michigan House and Senate are expected to meet with Trump at the White House on Friday as the Trump team struggles to find ways to subvert democracy and defy the people’s will in the state of Michigan.
House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, will meet with Trump, a source briefed on the meeting told USA TODAY.
Chatfield and Shirkey have indicated they have no plans to name an alternative pro-Trump set of electors to award the state to Trump, who is behind Biden by approximately 150,000 votes.
It is unlikely Michigan’s Republican lawmakers could successfully intervene to directly appoint electors or challenge the governor’s certification. If Michigan’s Republican lawmakers would like to make changes to this process, state law requires that they pass legislation to do so that would have to be signed into law by Whitmer.
“The law in terms of the Legislature only acting by bill and its ability to act otherwise being severely constrained is much clearer in Michigan than in most other states,” says Steven Liedel, a Lansing attorney who counts state constitutional law among his specialties and served as chief counsel to former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) weighed in.
Monica Palmer, the Republican chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers who initially voted on Tuesday against certifying the county’s election results, then reversed her vote, said Thursday she received a phone call from President Donald Trump Tuesday evening after the meeting ended.
Both Chatfield and Shirkey have fought with “That Woman From Michigan” over the surging spread of coronavirus in Michigan. They have been criticized by the Michigan medical community for rebuffing a mask mandate. The GOP leaders suggest that Governor Whitmer is unwilling to meet with them to collaborate on coronavirus initiatives, and Whitmer has said the GOP leaders have no plans to submit.
DFP, USA Today, and more.
