What’s Happened So Far at Today’s RNC Rules Committee Meeting

CLEVELAND -- The Republican Convention's powerful rules committee is meeting in Cleveland to write the rules for the GOP convention next week. The 112-member panel has sweeping authority to change how the convention is run. It’s being covered closely because of the impact the “Stop Trump” forces may have on the proceedings. After months of trying, it’s their last shot at trying to stop Donald Trump’s nomination.

How Long Will They Go?

Thursday evening the Rules Committee delegates voted to keep going, even if it takes all night -- which it could. It’s possible this could also wear down those anti-Trump forces, making it more likely to try and block amendments to unbind delegates.

So What Happened at The Rules Committee Today So Far?

Factions of delegates huddled in a closed door meeting earlier today after the committee abruptly broke up for four hours, initially saying a broken printer had delayed the critical meetings. Instead delegates from around the country, joined by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, former Ted Cruz delegate wrangler Ken Cuccinelli and Kendal Unruh, the rules committee member spearheading the “Free the Delegates” movement, gathered behind closed doors trying to negotiate a resolution to thwart attempts by “Stop Trump” allies to unbind the convention delegates.

So What Happened Behind Closed Doors?

It’s not totally clear, but we do know that there was no resolution and there was also an effort by the conservative forces like Cuccinelli and Lee to strip power from the top RNC officials and give more delegates to states that let only Republicans vote. “We were approached by a number of members from different groups, proposing different amendments, who asked if they could have a period of time to try to work out their differences in hopes that they could then expedite the work of the committee,” Chair Enid Mickelsen told the panel. “I do not know what they have or have not decided.”

What Happened To The Anti-Trump Movement?

We’re still waiting. The panel has considered amendments on the first 25 rules, but the Unruh's amendment likely won't come until later, likely late tonight. But it will be the most contentious and closely watched of the entire rules committee process. This is likely the anti-Trump's last stand and they are prepared to fight.

What About The Early States?

They remain intact. There is always debate about whether Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and more recently Nevada should be able to keep their special early status in the primaries. A proposal was offered that would require those early states to allocate their delegates proportionally. Currently, only South Carolina is winner-take-most. Every other state that votes before March 15 is already required to be proportional, but those special early states currently get an expedition under the rules. The proposal failed and we do not anticipate any other amendments to change the early states during these meetings.

Anything Else?

Several proposals put forward by Ted Cruz allies, aimed at weakening the RNC and strengthen states that let only Republicans vote, were not successful. On a proposal to reward states with closed primaries with more delegates, Guy Short, rules committee member from Colorado argued: “We are the Republican Party and we out to select our nominee.” Henry Barbour from Mississippi argued against the proposal, saying open primaries are a way to bring in voters to the Republican Party, especially in southern states. This, of course, would also help a candidate like Cruz in 2020 because closed primaries benefit more conservative candidates. The amendment failed. A series of other proposals aimed at stripping the RNC chair of appointing several key posts were also defeated.

The committee also voted to return its nominating rule to the pre-2012 version, which mandates a presumptive GOP nominee would only need to win five states by a plurality of votes, instead of eight states by a majority of votes that the rules required for 2016.

Chairwoman Enid Mickelson appeared grateful, calling the 2012 rules, which were adopted to attempt to stop Sen. Ron Paul and his supporters from taking the nomination from Mitt Romney, a "thorn that has been in our flesh for four years now."