Congress balks at election delay

President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday morning that mail-in voting would cause November’s election to be “the most INACCURATE and FRAUDULENT” in history. He added, “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Under Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the authority to decide when to hold a presidential election.

How did Congress respond to Trump’s suggestion? The idea of moving the election met with swift rebuttal from Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California. “Never in the history of this country, through wars, depressions, and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time,” McConnell told WNKY-TV in Bowling Green, Ky. “We will find a way to do that again this Nov. 3.”

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about the debate over mail-in voting.