You read that right: A Trump-Harris administration is entirely possible in 2025.
It’s an unlikely, but possible, scenario that could change the course of history.
Given that the 2024 race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is neck-and-neck, the National Archives outlined what would happen if neither candidate receives the 270 electoral votes necessary to become president:
“If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the Presidential election leaves the Electoral College process and moves to Congress. The House of Representatives elects the President from the three (3) Presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each State delegation has one vote and it is up to the individual States to determine how to vote. (Since the District of Columbia is not a State, it has no State delegation in the House and cannot vote). A candidate must receive at least 26 votes (a majority of the States) to be elected.
“The Senate elects the Vice President from the two (2) Vice Presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each Senator casts one vote for Vice President. (Since the District of Columbia is not a State, it has no Senators so does not participate in the vote). A candidate must receive at least 51 votes (a majority of Senators) to be elected.
“If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House.”
Let’s assume that neither Biden nor Trump secures 270 electoral votes. In that case, the House would choose between Biden, Trump and the likely third-highest vote-getter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for the presidency.
In this scenario, any of the three would need just 26 states to vote them into the White House. There’s a good chance that the Republican-controlled House will side with Trump, making him the 47th president of the United States.
Turning to the Senate, the choice would come down to Kamala Harris and whoever Trump chooses to be his running mate. Since Democrats currently control the Senate, Harris would likely come out victorious.
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That means that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris could serve together as the president and vice president of the United States.
Republicans and Democrats alike are probably filled with anxiety reading that sentence.
And since the president and vice president can only be removed by impeachment, Trump and Harris would be stuck with each other for four years.
You may think that there’s no way that this situation could ever occur. After all, there’s never been a presidential election where a candidate failed to get the required votes.
However, the possibility of a tie is entirely plausible.
At this stage in the race, RealClearPolitics lists seven states as the “top battleground” states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Say Biden takes the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of which he won in 2020. Give Trump the other four, and we’re left with a 269-269 tie.
A Trump-Biden tie in the Electoral College sounds outlandish, but it’s possible.
The last time it happened, 200 years ago, the backlash changed American democracy forever. If history repeats itself this year, the fallout could be just as existential. https://t.co/lkQ2QJ1Rab
— POLITICO (@politico) May 16, 2024
So yes, this situation is possible.
That’s not to say it will happen. Trump is currently leading in all seven battleground states, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
And, in order for the tie to occur, the battleground states mentioned above would have to vote in a very specific way, and all other states would have to go to the current front-runner in the polls.
So, sure, maybe there’s nothing to worry about. In all likelihood, either the Biden or Trump ticket will win outright.
Yet, there is a scenario where we get four more years of Trump and four more years of Kamala Harris.
Wouldn’t that be fun?
