On November 3, voters in the United States will decide all 435 Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and just over one third of the Senate. The results could shift the current majorities held by Republicans in both chambers. Which party controls each chamber will affect President Trump’s agenda and determine how far Congress can assert its authority over foreign aid, defense spending, trade, tariffs and more.
Under the Constitution, states set the “times, places and manner” of congressional elections and administer them. Congress can override those rules by passing laws. The Constitution gives the President no specific authority over election administration. Even so, President Trump has issued two executive orders establishing voting requirements, and the Justice Department has sought access to state voter databases. The President has also urged Congress to pass the Save America Act to advance many of these same goals.
This episode of Transatlantic Currents will discuss how US elections work; what is being done to protect them from threats, possible challenges to results, and ongoing disinformation. The guest speakers for the episode represent Keep our Republic (KOR), a nonpartisan civic education organization focused on building trust in elections, the rule of law, and constitutional checks and balances. Former Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Corbett is the chair of the Pennsylvania Bipartisan Advisory Council of KOR and Ari Mittleman, KOR’s Executive Director, oversees the organization’s work in key states to promote civic education, legal education for attorneys, and support for election officials.
Participants will also discuss KOR’s broader efforts to defend the rule of law including its coalition of retired U.S. judges and its work to establish principles for the independence of the legal profession.
Speakers:
Tom Corbett, Former Governor of Pennsylvania, Distinguished Executive in Residence, Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Duquesne University
Ari Mittleman, Executive Director, Keep Our Republic
Deborah McCarthy, Ambassador (ret), Non-Resident Fellow, FIIA
Chair:
Maria Lindén, Research Fellow, FIIA
Transatlantic Currents is a monthly webinar series hosted by FIIA’s Center on US Politics and Power featuring American experts on political science and international relations. The series covers a wide array of timely topics from foreign and defense policy to US domestic issues of particular interest to the transatlantic community. The webinars are hosted by FIIA Non-Resident Fellows Ambassador (retired) Deborah McCarthy and Leo Michel.