Republican lawmakers vie for convention power

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The Hill:

Republican lawmakers say they will play a significant role at what is shaping up to be a raucous GOP convention in Cleveland this summer.

 

In an early show of influence, the GOP senators who spoke to The Hill are backing Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’s handling of the delegate selection process. But they say there will be a backlash if voters think their will is being circumvented.

 

If GOP front-runner Donald Trump secures the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination before the Republican National Convention, many lawmakers aren’t eager to be part of the process.

 

Should the convention be contested, however, they want to have a say in the floor debate.

 

Some Republicans say Trump won’t get the nomination if he doesn’t secure it on the first ballot. If it goes to a second ballot, Ted Cruz will likely be the favorite to become the party’s standard-bearer.

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A meeting of unlikely kingmakers

 

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Thursday’s Republican National Committee (RNC) rules meeting will shed light on the powerful Standing Rules Committee that typically operates without much interest from the outside political world.

 

By now, the GOP has typically settled on a presidential nominee, leaving the convention and the rules that govern it largely a formality.

 

But with the Republican race far from settled, the rules debate could help decide the road map for a contested convention, and intense jockeying and

accusations of politicking in the run-up to the Republican National Convention in July have already begun.

Here’s what you need to know about the panel ahead of its high-profile meeting here later this week.

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/277068-a-meeting-of-unlikely-kingmakers

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RNC rules panel rejects proposal to simplify convention procedures

 

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A Republican National Convention panel shot down an effort Thursday to simplify the rules for the presidential nomination, but anti-establishment forces claimed victory after the party’s top attorney said existing rules make it difficult to substitute candidates.

 

General counsel John Ryder told the Republican National Committee’s 56-member panel that changing the rules at the Cleveland convention in July would require a two-thirds vote by the delegates who attend.

 

Given that front-runner Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are likely to have substantial blocks of loyal delegates, they should be able to stymie any changes on the convention floor intended to try to supplant them as the party’s choices — the fear that prompted the proposed rules change.

 

The proposal, defeated on an overwhelming voice vote of the Standing Committee on Rules, would have changed the procedures from an arcane 1,500-page rule book based on the U.S. House of Representatives rules. Instead, the party would have used the simpler Robert’s Rules of Order.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/21/rnc-rules-panel-rejects-proposal-simplify-conventi/