“I Saw The Best Minds Of My Generation…”

 I want to respect Mike Luttig, but this;

That's the day that the 120th Congress is due to be sworn in. But that assumes that Republicans will agree to seat the newly elected Democrats. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already shown a proclivity to delaying the certification of duly elected members after he held up Rep. Adelita Grijalva's (D-AZ) swearing-in for 50 days in 2025.

Congress adjourns at "high noon" on January 3, which means that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is no longer technically in charge of seating new members. In that scenario, the House Clerk would notify elected members that they have been seated. Luttig warned that Republicans may try to corrupt this process to maintain power after the midterms.

"There are already discussions around the country that Mike Johnson would fire the existing clerk and replace that clerk with a loyalist," Luttig said.

That poses a problem for newly elected members representing states with election conspiracists working in the halls of power, Luttig added. If the states refuse to certify a member's election, then the House Clerk would not list those members on the roll to be notified of their seating.

Trump hinted at this possibility in February when he told MAGA media personality Dan Bongino that Republicans needed to control the midterms to win the elections, a statement Luttig described as "breathtaking."

…is a sign of being lost somewhere in the conspiracy wilds of the internet.

Johnson held up seating Grijalva much the same way McConnell refused to let Obama select a finat Justice before his second term ended. Bending the rules, but not exactly breaking them. Foot dragging is annoying, but it isn’t as serious as refusing to seat an entire Freshman class of House members just because of party affiliation.

Refusing to seat duly elected Representatives would be a bridge too far. They would eventually be seated, and the first order of business would be to strip the power to appoint the Clerk from the Speaker. And then they’d fire the rogue clerk. And probably give Johnson the MTG treatment: bar him from any and all committees, making him as useless as tits on a boar hog. Cast him into perdition.

Luttig’s “theory” also depends on states selectively denying Democrats their victories. Certifying elections is a ministerial act, not a discretionary one. Every Democrat refused a seating in the House on those grounds would win her/his lawsuit. And think of the animosity it would generate among House members.

I think Judge Luttig needs to get off the internet. His grip on reality is getting sweaty.