I went down a rabbit hole and tried to figure out what *legally* would happen if Trump could cancel the 2020 election. I came to this conclusion:

Trump would automatically be succeeded as president on 1/20/2021 by DIANNE FEINSTEIN.

Here's how I got there...

THREAD:

1) The 20th Amendment states that the term of members of Congress ends on 1/3/2021 at noon, and the term of the president and vice-president ends on 1/20/2021 at noon. At that time, the president-elect assumes the office.

2) The amendment does not have any provision that says the incumbents may remain in office if the election hasn't been held before their term ends. Unless the incumbent president is re-elected, it is unconstitutional for him to remain in office.

3) The amendment does, however, say what happens if there isn't a president-elect to take over. Article 3 specifies that if no president-elect is available or eligible for office, the vice president-elect assumes the presidency until the president-elect is eligible.

4) If the vice-president-elect is also unavailable, Congress determines the succession by law -- the relevant law being the Succession Act of 1947.

5) If no election has been held by 1/3/2021, the terms of all members of the US House of Representatives would end, and all House seats would be vacant. The 35 Senate seats up for election in 2020 (33 terms are ending normally, plus 2 special elections) would also be vacant.

6) If the election still hasn't been held by 1/20/2021, the offices of president and vice-president would also become vacant.

7) According to the Succession Act of 1947, second in line to the presidency is the vice-president -- but, as of 1/20, there isn't one. Third in line is the Speaker of the House -- but, as of 1/3, there isn't one. Fourth in line is the president pro tempore of the Senate.

8) Senate president pro tem is a largely ceremonial position which, since 1890, has gone by tradition to the senior senator from the majority party in the Senate. The current president pro tem is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

9) However, the 35 Senate seats up for election in 2020 are heavily Republican incumbents, so if the election were not held and those 35 seats became vacant on 1/3/2021, the Senate would consist of 33 Democrats, 30 Republicans, and 2 Independents.

10) So the most senior Democratic senator would become Senate president pro tem, and then assume the presidency of the United States until an election could be held that could produce an eligible president-elect to serve out the remainder of the term.

11) The current senior Democrat is Patrick Leahy, but he is up for reelection in 2020 so his term would end on 1/3 at noon. The second most senior Democrat, whose current term extends until 2024, is Senator Dianne Feinstein.

12) If Trump cancels the 2020 election, Feinstein would automatically become president on January 20, 2021, at noon.

END OF THREAD