The Rules Committee could repeal Rule 16 which “binds” delegates to vote for the presidential candidate who won their state.
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The anti-Donald Trump movement was dealt a resounding defeat late Thursday night, as any realistic hopes of keeping the NY billionaire from winning the nomination slipped away with a series of votes in the small but powerful Rules Committee.
One leading plan by anti-Trump forces is by Kendal Unruh, a Colorado delegate, who would let the 2,472 delegates abandon the candidate they’re supposed to support and instead vote their conscience. But Unruh has said she expects to win support from at least 28 of them – which under party rules means her plan would be brought to the full convention next Monday for a vote. In other words, every rules scuffle and protest vote among delegates, each platform dispute and every rhetorical slight made against Trump, no matter how glancing, is likely to be dissected and analyzed in depth.
In the wonky Rules Committee meeting ahead of the Republican National Convention next week, a whip team assembled by the Trump campaign worked closely with officials at the Republican National Convention to defeat anti-Trump delegates’ efforts.
But conservative Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a proponent for letting the delegates vote freely, warned that the committee’s actions would not quell skepticism about Trump. There will now surely only be one floor vote to confirm the nominee and Mr Trump will easily capture the 1,237 delegates he needs.
“It’s over folks”, said Steve Scheffler, a delegate from Iowa who is also the director of the Iowa branch of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
Just five of North Carolina’s 10 Republican House members told McClatchy this week they’re definitely not going to the convention, including one who endorsed Trump just this week.
On the other side, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was personally involved in negotiations, which were mostly conducted through emissaries, according to his spokesman.
“Obviously we did not stand adjourned for three hours because of a jammed copier”, Mickelsen said. But the odds are great: A minority report has not been submitted since the 1976 contested convention between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. Most notably, there are large numbers of senior Republicans who normally could be counted on to show up and jostle for speaking slots, who instead have conjured compelling (and some not so compelling) excuses to stay away due to their distaste for Mr Trump.
Once the official session was underway, two factions debated a series of changes to the rules.
“Nothing in this rule shall be construed to prohibit the binding of delegates pursuant to Rule No. 16 (a)” “
I’m a politician”. On a 112-member rules panel dominated by party and Trump loyalists, the outcome was expected. Only 21 rules panel members voted to even discuss the amendment – fewer than the 28 members needed to force a vote on the floor. That move also failed.
Trump’s campaign kept its distance.
“The right to conscience isn’t just something we’ve decided is a cool idea”, Unruh said.
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“He’s a phenomenal individual”, Spicer said. “It was a handful of individuals that were trying to make trouble, but the will of the grassroots of our party came through”.
