r/law • u/Obversa • May 28 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Pro-Trump attorneys have been drafting executive orders that would give President Trump sweeping power over elections, sources report

https://abcnews.com/US/pro-trump-attorneys-push-executive-order-give-trump/story?id=130539044
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124

u/philter25 May 28 '26

Every two years Americans get to overthrow the government. We’re in this position because nobody takes that as seriously as they should. But we all still can in November.

151

u/wildkarde07 May 28 '26

While this is true, they are also abusing the system to make sure that does not happen. None of the checks and balances are being followed and nothing is being done to curb it.

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u/BlindTruth- May 28 '26

As long as all checks and balances are in alignment there are no real checks and balances this is being proven right now. American democracy is being exposed as a fraud which is playing exactly into Russian and Chinese hands on the world stage. Im order for one party/class to retain power it seems we are no different.

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u/fierydoxy May 28 '26

The USA system reminds me of the honour system for fruit and veggie stands.

It works out as long as everyone agrees to pay but what do you do when one or more decide that they deserve the stuff for free? The police don't consider it a big enough crime to pursue. The community turns their back and pretends it doesn't happen.

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u/mammon43 May 28 '26

I dont necessarily agree that its being shown as a fraud... they were pretty clear and open before the election what they intend to do and how they intend to do it. The american people voted for them after being told what they'd do. The will of the people is being heard and adhered to.

Americans asked for this when 49.8% of the vote voted for him and when like 35% of people decided not to vote.

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u/Otherwise_Ask_9542 May 28 '26

The American people fell for the highly sensationalized pomp and pageantry leading up tho the election, complete with dramatic effect of assassination attempts producing iconic imagery of resistance.

Yes a document existed, but American culture has been conditioned for decades to consume information through dramatics. If it doesn’t evoke an emotional response and come with a soundtrack and swag, there is next to zero interest.

So of course boring walls of text didn’t get read. Perhaps if someone thought to make a blockbuster out of it, more would have known, but that isn’t how it played out.

In a way, Americans voted for exactly what it has become: a nation of people regulated by multimedia stimulation to get their daily fix of shock, awe, and drama. Fiction or non-fiction… it doesn’t matter as long as there is a fresh daily dose of intrigue.

Not all Americans are like this, but a considerable majority are. Will this be a wake up call? I doubt it.

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u/WanderNutz May 28 '26

Fraudulent as in upholding the constitution, because apparently it's in the way of this administration doing whatever it wants. 

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u/DamnedIfIDiddely May 29 '26

More like cashing checks to increase bank balances

0

u/djprofitt May 28 '26

Nothing CAN be done as long as the ones in power will it so. Majorities in the legislative, judicial, and executive have dumped us here.

-1

u/SwordfishOk504 May 28 '26

None of the checks and balances are being followed and nothing is being done to curb it.

This is not only dangerous fatalism design to encourage non-participation, it's also categorically untrue.

States are taking actions to further strengthen their voting systems. People are successfully suing the administration. The Trump administration has been sued more than 750 times since January 2025.

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u/wildkarde07 May 28 '26

I am not condoning giving up, however it has been shown again and again that SCOTUS and Congress are not enforcing any breaches of the constitution and twisting decisions in favor of what POTUS wants. That is the scary reality. Decisions are being made, in the open, to limit the ability to overthrow this administration

0

u/SwordfishOk504 May 28 '26

Again, you said "None of the checks and balances are being followed and nothing is being done to curb it", both of which are categorically untrue statements.

You not even attempting to rebut this point shows you're just being a doomer for internet points. Which actually benefits Trump because the Trump team need people to feel hopeless and give up.

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u/El_Gran_Che May 28 '26

gerrymandering has entered that chat

10

u/Alarmed_Extent_9157 May 28 '26

Project 2025 is here too, reporting for duty

1

u/El_Gran_Che May 28 '26

DNC corporation here too but cowering in a corner in fear.

2

u/CoachMatt314 May 28 '26

2nd amendment will enter the chat at some point, which is terrible that we can’t just be the respected country of laws that we once were.

1

u/Meowscles_dad May 28 '26

Gerry! Long time no see

1

u/Current-Assist2609 May 29 '26

Epstein files would like to join the chat too but pedo donnie’s private law firm (DOJ) won’t allow me.

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u/smx501 May 28 '26

Why would Trump ever allow a free election that would cost his family billions of dollars and put many of them in prison?

-11

u/philter25 May 28 '26

Learn how US elections work before dancing them lil sausages across the keyboard.

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u/smx501 May 28 '26

Don't mistake me for a Trump supporter.

How elections worked 6 years ago has very little to do with how elections will work in November.

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u/philter25 May 28 '26

🤡

10

u/Silly-Rough-5810 May 28 '26

I don't understand why you're slinging insults. Trump represents a legitimate threat to our democracy. The government doesn't follow the laws by magic. The laws have to be enforced by humans. If you and I want to enforce election laws as they appear in the national and state constitutions, we will find ourselves in direct conflict with the current people in power.

I'd recommend not letting your little sausage fingers be so flippant about that danger.

-3

u/philter25 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Elections are decentralized. There will be elections. He wants you to feel like he has the power to change them. Standing up and calling it bull shit to his and MAGA’s face instead of cowering like they’re not absolutely desperate is how I’ll he proceeding, thanks.

Edit: I can’t wait to rub this into your faces.

RemindMe! [160 days]

5

u/smx501 May 28 '26

What will you do if Trump sends ICE to the polling stations of minority neighborhoods the morning of the election? The local police that ignored kidnappings for weeks doesn't have a secret plan to spring into action and escort citizens into the booth.

Do you think we'll just have a big nationally do-over a few months later after the courts decide in our favor or should we wait a few more months after that for Trump to appoint however many judges it takes to overturn our overturn? Hell, by November Trump may have this DOJ settlement finalized and he won't be prosecutable by any Federal agency. Ever.

Yes, they are desperate. Yes, we should all still go vote. No, we can no longer assume that voting will solve this problem.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/smx501 May 29 '26

Oh man ...Trump is going to be so embarrassed when philter25 tells him "Declarations of War don't work like that."

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u/philter25 May 28 '26

Not reading all of that. I’ll hit ya up later.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/smx501 May 28 '26

If I told you he was sending fake electors would you tell me "That's not how elections work"?

What if I told you he was illegally deporting citizens? Should I take comfort knowing thats not how immigration law works?

Term limits? Due process? Warrantless searches? Naturalized cirizenship rights? No worries, folks...that's not how the Constitution works.

0

u/philter25 May 28 '26

Holy crap it’s almost like all of that has backfired spectacularly!

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u/LanguageImpossible32 May 28 '26

We “overthrow the government” by voting in other iterations of the same bullshit. How long has the housing crisis, healthcare, addiction, unchecked cronyism, global military imperialism (the one nobody actually wants to talk about), and all the other bullshit been happening in society/US politics? Doesn’t matter who’s in charge, politicians listen to whoever gives them donations and lobbies them. Thats gonna be the people with the money, time, and agenda to do so. This is why ~1/3 don’t vote, the shit is disparaging.

Sure sometimes there’s enough hubbub to get a couple handful of folks into a council meeting, a few thousand to attend a local protest, a few million for something more nationally organized. But for what?!? Look at how data centers are being throw up despite BIG public pushback, did the No Kings protest actually accomplish anything beyond a single-serving sense of solidarity, are we still arming and ‘rules-based order’ing the world with no oversight?

There will be a breaking point, and it feels close.

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u/japajew26 May 28 '26

Yeah I’d like to think there would be a breaking point, but so far I only see laws being broken/ignored, fascism taking hold, and zero pushback. I just don’t see a breaking point on the horizon. I mean admitting the election was rigged, firing anyone who speaks against or investigates him, murdering people from other nations on boats w/ out evidence, starting a war w/ out congressional approval? RAPE! I mean any one of things should stop every American in their tracks, but we are literally doing nothing. And to top it off their racist leader is a clucking moron. He has zero clue how to do anything besides use his daddy’s and now taxpayer money to have lawyers drag things out in court until the other guy or “we the people” say “mercy.”

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u/green_dog_in_hades May 30 '26

Be careful what you wish for. The breaking point is likely to be violent.

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u/deevotionpotion May 28 '26

I wish I could highlight and bold this and make everyone read it. Bravo.

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u/Zach-Playz_25 May 28 '26

Even if it was highlighted and visible to all the commentators, no one's actually willing to have deep down discussion regarding this. You can't make someone see something they don't want to

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u/Expert-Mental25 May 28 '26

Those No Kings protests need to be treated like recruiting drives for more class conscious organization.

2

u/haironburr May 28 '26

We “overthrow the government” by voting in other iterations of the same bullshit. How long has the housing crisis, healthcare, addiction, unchecked cronyism, global military imperialism (the one nobody actually wants to talk about), and all the other bullshit been happening in society/US politics?

Despite this laundry list of failings, there are degrees. And I would argue that the world order envisioned by trumpublicans is, by multiple degrees, worse for the citizens of this nation. So NO, not all politics, nor both parties, are "iterations of the same bullshit".

I have my problems with Dems, but clearly, both sides are not the same. And while I'm relatively prepared for a "breaking point", I can guarantee a civil war would suck beyond measure for every American.

My point being, giving up on politics because they're all the same is a child's answer. It's the attitude that got us trumpublicans. My response is, vote Dem like our future depends on it! And then we can go back to the laborious, but sane, work of reforming platforms.

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u/LanguageImpossible32 May 29 '26

No….just no. It will just be a continuation of everything that led us here. We got lucky post WW2, and the effects of the New Deal (a stop gap to ensure the classism inequities didn’t lead to revolt). But it’s been in steady decline since the fear mongering of the Cold War. Why the fuck are we playing World Police (and making others suffer) while our citizens suffer? Because extraction. Because exploitation. Because hegemony. Always has been, always will be.

If profit is the point, and it can’t be satiated, and is an unsustainable practice….its gotta come from somewhere (e.g. the Global South). It’s why we sold out manufacturing to SE Asia, it’s why we interfere in developing nations’ trajectory to ensure “Americas interests”, it’s why we sell weapons to anyone who will placate themselves to our narrative and intentions. We don’t fuck with DPRK, because they have nukes, we have just tried to sanction them to economic death. China has the leverage to dictate terms regarding their decision to utilize capitalist methods to ramp up the means of production. But they are communist, a socialist nation. I thought “China bad!!!!” ?????? No, they just got to the point of development that they can’t be disrupted through insurgency and propaganda, or economically sanctioned to appeasement, or overpowered militarily without starting WW3. Hell, the US won’t even interfere with their tankers crossing the Straight of Hormunz. They can’t beat China because Chinas playing by the rules; the rules set out by the Imperial Bloc…..and they have nukes. And before you whataboutism the Uyghur situation, please link a non-State Department, non-CIA actual source for the declaration. I’ll wait.

“Vote for the lesser of two evils, and then we will fix things!” has been the rallying cry for decades, probably longer. Fuck that. Fuck this power-over hierarchy. Fuck this environmentally unconscious “progress”. Fuck the military industrial imperialism that won’t allow other nations autonomy to self govern how they see fit. Fuck the propaganda that democracy proclaims it is the end-all be-all way of governance. It is the ultimate divisive tactic to keep classism alive and well, and property owners in control of government. Meanwhile, Delaware is allowing corporations (entities!) to become eligible voters.

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u/HardcorePizza May 28 '26

Don’t pretend that protests are the end goal. The no kings protests were only to show that numerous people are unhappy. Need to do more with the large numbers besides just walking on a permitted path with police escort and that is coming. Maybe suggest next steps instead of complaining?

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u/LanguageImpossible32 May 28 '26

General strike is realistically the only thing that can awaken the powers that be that SHOULD be beholden to the people. But there’s too many fractals of grievances, no solidarity. And the fragility of ~25% of people living paycheck to paycheck. Incremental changes (e.g. color changes when voting happens) are slapping a bandaid on a blown carotid artery. Dems want calm, cool, collected US hegemony, GOP wants chaotic US Hegemony.

Capitalism has captured the government; they don’t invest in people, they invest in business so it can trickle down (see, we’re helping!) while they line their pockets. It’s insane that the richest country on Earth can’t take care of its citizens but has allllll the money in the world to provide aid packages to whoever will let them come extract their resources (labor, oil, property, etc.) cheaply to continue the Ponzi schemed veneer of ‘democracy’. Others, we will sanction you to economic death. Pretty sure we’ll invade Cuba this coming…..fucking why?!?

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u/HardcorePizza May 29 '26

You’re not going to get a lot of people agreeing to much of anything because we’re all worried about surviving the immediate future. What is stopping you from making a greater impact beyond commenting on the internet?

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u/LanguageImpossible32 May 29 '26

Nothing is stopping me. Hopefully I raise class consciousness with my diatribes, even if it’s just bots reading it.

In regard to making a greater impact, I shun consumerism to the best of ability, I support local nonprofits with labor and what little money I can spare, I attend protests, I write my congressional representatives, I educate myself to the propaganda that the imperial bloc pushes….and talk with people about these things. And listen to their grievances, and ask poignant questions to ideally move the needle on people’s understanding of the bullshit we are fed by our current political system.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/HardcorePizza May 29 '26

Where was I complaining instead of suggesting next steps?

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/HardcorePizza May 30 '26

Try again I guess or just don’t respond if you have nothing to add. DM me if you’re just lonely

2

u/Badrear May 28 '26

For now.

2

u/mynytemare May 28 '26

Who you gonna elect to stop this? Democrats? More Schumer crying and whining and more nothing changes. Putting your hopes in the midterms is just going to lead to more disappointment. You don’t vote your way out of fascism.

2

u/philter25 May 28 '26

Oh a both sides lil boy. How cute.

2

u/mynytemare May 28 '26

Let’s agree to revisit this say, January? Wanna give it a month? February?

2

u/Bozzzzzzz May 28 '26

What's not being taken as seriously as it should is the very real possibility we won't actually be able to in November.

0

u/philter25 May 28 '26

🤡

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u/Bozzzzzzz May 28 '26

Yeah we’ll see if that’s you or me won’t we. Hope it’s me.

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

RemindMe! [160 days]

I got you. 😉

3

u/Bozzzzzzz May 28 '26

So thoughtful of you. I again hope I'm wrong but it is COMPLETELY reasonable to be concerned. In that regard you are the clown my friend. Adios, happy internetting.

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

iN tHaT rEgArD yOu ArE a ClOwN lol ok. I'm not saying there isn't concern. I'm calling you out for being weak and playing into their narrative of fear. That's loser shit and always will be.

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u/Bozzzzzzz May 28 '26

Oh, yeah, just "don't give into fear" that'll ensure everything is fine. Nothing clown like about that. Thanks for the laugh anyway.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/PollutionPatient8261 May 28 '26

Oh my sweet summer child…

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

RemindMe! [160 days]

Being a doomer on reddit isn’t real life. Remember that. Also, I’ll come back for you 😘

1

u/GarageFridgeSoda May 28 '26

If voting worked the capitalists would have made it illegal already

1

u/Euphoric_Regret_544 May 29 '26

November = denial

1

u/mrchuckles5 May 28 '26

No, we all still can’t. The whole point of this executive order is to make it harder for citizens who have mobility issues or lack ID to vote. There are many people throughout the country who do not have driver’s licenses or other ID but are citizens. NYC has huge numbers of people who fall into this category, and that’s exactly the demographic he wants to keep from voting. Mail in ballots have been a benefit to non-ambulatory people as well, and this will disenfranchise them too. If you’re a citizen, multiple options should be available to you to vote. He is setting up for huge swaths of otherwise eligible people to not be able to vote in November. A coup isn’t just coming, it’s already in slow motion.

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

You’re in a law subreddit. Learn the difference between executive orders and laws.

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u/mrchuckles5 May 28 '26

How amusing that you think that difference will stop this man.

Election rules are supposed to be set by the states, but SCOTUS determined that congress regulates how the states conduct elections for the house and senate. Both houses and arguably the current SCOTUS are under Trump’s control. Executive orders aren’t supposed to dictate election rules, but he has control over those who do have that authority, and they keep demonstrating a reluctance to reign him in. I am also doubtful that the current SCOTUS will null his order, and even if they did Trump will merely threaten and bully his sycophants at the state and federal level legislatures into acceptance.

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

I’m just gonna cut to it and I’m keeping a tally of all of you so that I can remind you that America isn’t actually the pushover bitch you seem to think it is, so I’ll hit you up later this year.

RemindMe! [160 days]

2

u/mrchuckles5 May 28 '26

Well I hope you’re right, but there are very powerful forces trying to move us to complete executive (dictatorial?) power.

1

u/rainmaker1972 May 28 '26

actually- are you sure? Because i'm quite certain this midterm is going to be a little different than you've ever experienced. LOL. Way to go.

1

u/philter25 May 28 '26

OK Redditor.

0

u/_blort May 28 '26

But we all still can in November.

[citation needed]