The Hill: Roy Moore Still in the Race, Senate GOP Running Out of Options

“Nothing has worked. Moore is still in the race,” The Hill’s Alexander Bolton wrote Sunday about the GOP establishment’s efforts to oust Judge Roy Moore from the U.S. Senate race in Alabama.

The article claims the Senate GOP is “running out of options to stop Moore.” It details national Republican leader’s rhetoric and efforts to get Judge Moore, who resoundingly defeated their preferred candidate, appointed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, in the September primary, to drop out of the race:

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), went so far as to call for a vote to expel Moore from the Senate should he win the Dec. 12 special election.

…

Senate Republicans are increasingly resigned to the idea that there’s nothing they can do to stop Moore from coming to Washington, short of hoping that Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, wins the seat.

The piece also quotes Stanley Brand, an expert in congressional ethics investigations, putting down the idea the Senate might expel Moore even if the people of Alabama elect him:

“You can’t refuse to seat a member who possesses those qualifications. That leaves open the issue of whether you could expel that member,” Brand said.

“If he’s elected by the people of Alabama, the presumption is they knew about the conduct and elected him notwithstanding,” he added. “They’re in a tough position in that they’re sailing into the teeth of a very tough Supreme Court precedent if they try to exclude or expel this guy.”

Read the rest here.