Will there be a last-ditch effort to unseat Donald Trump at the convention?


Even though the Republican National Convention is officially underway, with presumptive party nominee Donald Trump all set to be coronated, there's a sliver of hope for the remaining #NeverTrump voters in Cleveland: Republicans looking to stage an anti-Trump coup have acquired enough signatures to force a ballot on convention rules, Politico reports.
The last hope for #NeverTrump holdouts lies in a technicality — that is, delegates haven't officially voted for Trump as the GOP nominee yet. The reason it's "presumptive" is because enough people in enough states voted for Trump in the Republican primary contest, theoretically binding enough delegates to mark their ballots for Trump at the convention and grant him the nomination.
Except, of course, if anti-Trump warriors can change the GOP rules. Last Thursday, the rules committee of the Republican National Committee rejected a proposal to do just that; Colorado delegate Kendal Unruh, an outspoken #NeverTrump supporter, led the charge to enable "votes of conscience" that would free Trump-bound delegates from voting for the mogul if it went against their personal morals. And despite a ruling last week by a federal judge that freed Trump-bound delegates in Virginia to vote with their consciences, such delegates are still bound by party rules.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But if this new initiative — forced to the floor after anti-Trump Republicans gathered a sufficient number of signatures to necessitate a vote on convention rules — succeeds, the stipulation that pledged delegates vote according to their state's election results could be abandoned in favor of a "conscience" vote, which many interpret as freeing Trump-bound delegates from actually voting for him. And while it's "highly unlikely" the #NeverTrump faction actually wins the rules vote, Politico notes, the rebel delegates "hope to… prove what they've long claimed: that a significant section of the party still doesn't support the presumptive nominee."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday