No matter what the outcome of next week's elections — and I think you all know my preferences — after the elections are certified, one of the next steps is the swearing in of a new Congress, the 120th, which will take place on January 3, 2027. That's the process defined in the Constitution and federal law. And, that's the process our government will follow in January.
A week before these races are decided, though, there is already some panic-mongering on the left about the possibility that some will resist the peaceful transition of power. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) spoke up to allay those fears, calling them "absurd."
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., committed to a peaceful post-election transfer of power, calling concerns that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans could contest the results if Democrats win control of Congress “absurd.”
“We’re going to follow the Constitution. The Constitution says when a state certifies the election of members of Congress, then they’re administered the oath. That’s what I’ll be doing on Jan. 3 to everybody who’s there,” Johnson said Tuesday during a campaign stop with New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, one week before the Nov. 3 midterm election, in response to a question from MS NOW. “I may not like some of those outcomes, but that’s our system. And for anybody to suggest otherwise is absurd.”
Here's the thing: Will Democrats agree to a similarly peaceful process if the Republicans hold the House of Representatives? That's a much more pressing question.
That's what the speaker is pinning his hopes on.
“Of course we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power. But it will not be transferring, because we are going to keep the majority and I’m going to be the speaker of the House and I will keep steady hands at the wheel,” Johnson told reporters.
Ay, that's the rub. That's the ideal outcome for the GOP — winning. It's the ideal outcome for the republic, too, not to mention future generations.
The constitutional model is how we have done this since 1787. It's a good system; in fact, no better governing document has ever been devised. It's sometimes messy but it works, and one of the key tenets, one that sure shook up the kings, princes, and potentates of Europe when we started doing it, is the peaceful transition of power. No matter what the legacy media says, that's what happened in 2021; there were many legitimate questions about that election, but when it came down to it, the transition of power was tense but peaceful; I do not count the incident at the Capitol, which despite the proclamations of the legacy media from their fainting couches, was nothing more than hooliganism, at worst.
This election will almost certainly see nothing of the sort, unless it comes from the left after a Republican victory. Or a Republican loss. These people are like Italian soccer fans, they'll not hesitate to riot either way.
We can, of course, prevent any such questions, any such incidents, from happening this time. To do that, all we have to do is win. To win, all we have to do is vote.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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