- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
Trump fired all three remaining members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Thursday, abruptly disabling the only federal agency devoted solely to election administration at a moment when Trump has sought to reshape federal voting rules.
The two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, were notified by email. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email said. It was signed by Morgan DeWitt Snow, deputy director of presidential personnel in the Executive Office of the President.
The third commissioner, Republican Christy McCormick, was allowed to resign, according to three sources within the agency. McCormick declined to comment when reached by phone. The agency’s fourth commissioner, Republican Donald Palmer, voluntarily departed the agency earlier this year to join the Heritage Foundation.
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This was the plan from the beginning. Don’t act surprised now or when there are armed men at polling stations on Election Day.
Drump is one of the most hated presidents in US history, seriously none of this will work out in the favor of the Republican party. Fuel shortages start soon, all thanks to Trump’s economy.
Can’t win because you’re shit? Cheat.
I never thought in my lifetime the United States would need “International Observers”.
Yeah that’s for countries that don’t respect democracy, not… Oh nevermind.
I’m not sure the last time I saw the phrase international observers offhand (I am sure it’s happened but just missed it) but they are definitely needed in that country. They seem to be degrading themselves to third world, in function if not by cold war meaning.
Welp.
We lived long enough to see America become a 3rd world shithole.
Edit: Don’t care if I get banned. This traitor’s head needs to be on a pike.
Statements like this make me think you haven’t been paying attention.
Always was.
Never bought into the whole America #1. Maybe in the Olympics.
Anyway, good luck, 'Murica. Time to fight or die for realsies.
We were never #1 but we weren’t a 3rd world shithole like it’s rapidly becoming. I get people hate us and want to be edgy but its just not remotely the case
Don’t wish the death and slavery empire good luck, lol. Death to America.
There are two Americas in that country and I’m rooting for the better half.
Which half genocided Korea?
Let me guess, the ones out on the streets protesting for world peace? How cynical and disingenuous can you be.
It doesn’t matter if half the country feels bad whenever America does some horrible evil shit lol. The output is the same.
i think it’s so funny how americans think they live in a democracy while one guy just fires whomever he wants.
But not just anyone… The court said he couldn’t fire that guy from the fed, cause that’s clearly the only important thing that the president needs oversight on /s. Despite the fact that he’s destroying the economy other ways. It’s all fucking ridiculous
Yeah we in the rest of the world call that a “dictatorship” m’dudes.
Was there always a lack of repercussions to illegal actions or were administrations playing nice for the most part?
I’m guessing like with other actions some federal judge will ask to reinstate them when it’s far too late
There were repurcussions most of the time until Nixon got pardoned. Grant got a speeding ticket on a horse from a beat cop who knew exactly who he was, and Grant paid the ticket. But after Nixon, all bets were off.
There was a supreme court decision during the current administration that basically said the president can’t be held accountable. It’s completely insane.
Was there always a lack of repercussions to illegal actions or were administrations playing nice for the most part?
Oh my god how much more evidence do you need to acknowledge they’re in on it?
I’m not following, are you saying the judges are? This administration? All previous administrations and this one?
It was a lot easier to believe the illusion before the Orange Don.
i think it’s so funny how americans think they live in a democracy
Not just any 'ol democracy, but the bestest one ever!!1!!
And validated as just fine by the unelected supreme court.
Good times.
It would be incredible and one hell of a historic moment if the Orange Pedophile’s reign, which has exposed all our system’s flaws, actually resulted in us plugging those holes and updating our political machine to prevent this all from happening again.
But the bottom line is that would require voter action and Americans are dogshit stupid.
Plug the holes of centuries of murder and pillage? Can you fix all the countries you’ve invaded or couped since WWII? Can you bring back all the dead fisherman or those 200 little girls trump killed this year? Can you bring back all the Iraqis, Afghanis, Vietnamese or Koreans?
Death to America.
i would wholeheartedly wish such a change for you guys.
Plug the holes of centuries of murder and pillage? Can you fix all the countries you’ve invaded or couped since WWII? Can you bring back all the dead fisherman or those 200 little girls trump killed this year? Can you bring back all the Iraqis, Afghanis, Vietnamese or Koreans?
Fuck your country, man.
Very ironic username.
How original of you.
Democracy requires public commitment, but people will always choose what benefits them in the shortest expanse at the cost of long term benefits.
When the ancient greeks who layed the groundwork can pinpoint the cycle to a fault, isn’t that a sign of a system that is dubious at best in its performance?
he’s setting himself up for a coup from a general, at this point it could really happen
Really interested to know why nobody near this guy has any spine whatsoever.
Easy, they’re conservatives/regressives.
Plenty of people near him have a spine. They just aren’t your friends
Doubtful anyone near him has a spine. They all fold faster than superman on laundry day. Even when it harms them.
Fired the Democrat, but “allowed the Republican to resign”. That is some petty shit. Not that it surprises me coming from Trump and the hairs he has hanging on to his balls like DeWitt.
Can’t wait to see how much phantom voter fraud his administration uncovers exclusively in states run by people Trump personally doesn’t like. With no mention of how they know there is any fraud to begin with since it seems like they have fired everyone on the Federal side that had any direct insight into elections with this announcement.
I’m sure someone in the media will get right on that line of thought when the time comes. /s
Well they haven’t found fraud yet, have they? They need to be replaced with people who will find “fraud”, who will get the necessary votes, and disregard votes where there were “illegal immigrants” …… you can tell because they speak Spanish
This is it. His big move. It’s all out in the open now and the endgame is midterms. C’mon citizens of all stripes, choose neighbourhood reps to watch and video all the polling booths on election day. You’ll need that insurance.
Dude is trying to steal the next election and install himself as king, amd we’re all just shrugging our shoulders. Let’s see how that works out for us.
If anyone has the chance to kill him, they should absolutely kill him.
I know that probably violates some terms of use or whatever, but it is my political opinion and is based on established American political thoery.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” - Thomas Jefferson
Probably how it’s working out for Russian citizens.
We’re a pretty stupid and servile society of people. I don’t see that going well for us going forward.
So he’d have to overturn the 22nd amendment.
Let’s say he does.
Plot twist: Obama runs against him.
Who says such a scenario even bothers with an erection?
Who says such a scenario even bothers with an erection?
I doubt he can get it up anymore.
Plot twist: one drop law passed so only 100% white people can run
Plot delay: 1 year lost arguing how white italians and irish are
Plot double cross: everybody is disqualified
Plot triple twist USSupreme Court rules that only Asians descended from the Caucus mountains are white and can run so Madami wins.
lets dont see, and get up off the couch to do what it takes to remove him
Time to buy that popcorn stock.
That will save my 401k!
best I can do is 40K
Any bets on Kalshi about when his arteries call it quits?
Who cares what a bunch of addicts think?
Hey, people have been betting on Kalshi using insider knowledge. I was hoping that somebody in his inner circle is placing bets that gives us any indication on his cardiovascular fitness.
Thanks SCOTUS!
This right here is the final straw. Cancelling the independence of federal agencies will turn this nation into a capitalist MAGA shithole faster than anything else he’s done.
I used to believe that we needed to add 4 seats to SCOTUS, but I no longer believe that. Now I believe that we need to add at least 20 seats to SCOTUS, with rolling term limits. The count shouldn’t be so close that one bad faith president can negatively manipulate policy for the next century. It should include rolling term limits, so every president gets to appoint a few, but not enough to steer the direction of the court.
We have to strengthen the independence of the three branches of government, and this is how we do it for SCOTUS.
This right here is the final straw.
LOL.
I’ll believe that when I see the majority of americans stand up and fight back in any meaningful way.
I would be so happy for my cynicism to be proven wrong - to see Trump, his lackeys and his puppeteers stopped.
But I don’t expect that to happen.
YOU are the reason that the Democratic party keeps fucking us over. Every time you, and other cynical defeatists, post your edgy take that the Dems won’t do anything, you send them the message that you’ll accept their failure - AGAIN!
ALL politicians are lazy and greedy at their core, and if you give them permission to do nothing, that is exactly what they’ll do, and go back to their favorite hobby, insider trading.
As we head into a Midterm election that is likely to be a bloodbath, it is vitally important that we clearly tell the new Democratic Congress that we expect SERIOUS action this time. No more dithering and slow-walking like last time. EVERY committee will be dedicated to investigating corruption, with a thousand tentacles.
We all want to know that MAGA Criminals WILL be punished this time, and not just Donald Trump, and we’d all appreciate it if you would STOP sending the message that we expect them to fail us, and we’ll accept it.
They need to hear that they’d better NOT fail us this time, or they’ll end up in the same position as MAGAs. Get on board with THAT message, and be part of the solution. Stop surrendering in advance, and giving the permission to fail.
YOU are the reason that the Democratic party keeps fucking us over
I’m not even an American.
I’m one of those foreigners that the USA keeps fucking over.
I’ve been watching gbthe USA shoot itself in the foot for decades without seeming to care to fix their problems.
I want the Americans to fix their shit, but I seriously doubt that they have the character to do the hard work is needed.
We all want to know that MAGA Criminals WILL be punished this time, and not just Donald Trump
As I said, I want to believe that it’s possible, but from what I’ve seen so far, Americans won’t rise to the challenge.
Prove me wrong. Fix your own fucking country.
I think the nation as a whole should be divided up into four regional blocs, each with their own judiciary, executive, legislative, military branches, and a regional president. They submit personnel to the national body, including National Justices. This keeps any single territory, person, or party from dominating the ideology of the national court.
What I am thinking, is something like…
- 3 executive justices, chosen by the executive without presidential input.
- 3 judiciary justices, required to have served a long time as a judge.
- 3 legislative justices, chosen by the elected representatives.
- 3 military justices, chosen by rank and file soldiers by popular election.
- 1 presidential justice. When the president who picked the justice leaves office, so does their pick.
If we have 4 regions, and including the National President’s single justice…
- 53 national justices, total.
0000
Also, add in…
-
10 year term limit total, that can’t be renewed nor extended. Presidential justices also are subjected to this restriction.
-
An age limit of 60. A justice has to have a sound mind, and reasonably modern understanding of the nation’s people and a grasp of technology.
-
Elimination of the shadow docket, and limits on the amount of vacation time that justices can have in a year. We want them to do their job.
The whole US government needs term limits.
Right now there are two transparently corrupt MAGA dipshits running for Congress in my area who are both claiming they want term limits, and I laugh every time they say it. In 50 years of voting, I have heard so many Right Wingers claim they are going to force Congress to impose term limits, and I yet I have NEVER seen a single one ever pursue that issue once elected. Not a single time. Any time a MAGA claims they want term limits, they are lying, and you can assume that the rest of their campaign promises are lies as well.
Both also say they’ll end insider trading, another MAGA lie. In fact, by bringing that up, it only illustrates that it’s on their minds, and likely the primary reason they’re running. After all, they can see how much money these MAGA politicians are making, and that gravy train can’t run forever. They got to jump on while it’s still careening down the tracks, and grab as much cash as possible before the inevitable crash.
Including the 4th branch: billionaires and trillionaires
Yup.
We could call that bill “Luigi’s Revenge”.
Seems like a branch that could use the liberal application of an axe.
Directly from the authoritarian playbook
“It’s a COOKbook?!?”
Nah the ones with the cookbook are on the opposite side of the political spectrum
They should still show up to work and do their jobs. I highly doubt they answer directly to the executive branch, or that the president even has the power to terminate them.
How were they selected in the first place? Are they elected, appointed, or hired? By whom? These are the questions that matter.
If they report to Congress, then I’m guessing at a minimum that it would take an act of congress to fire them. Not that republicans wouldn’t do it if trump asks, but there’s a narrow enough majority that a few spoiler votes could block it.
We need to stop letting trump get away with usurping the powers of the other branches of government.
JFC, you are so behind the times. The fact that you are getting upvotes is scary. Obviously, many people don’t know that American life as they know it, was effectively destroyed a week ago.
Remember the other day, when there was all that talk about Birthright Citizenship being BARELY upheld by SCOTUS? A case that was so obvious that it NEVER should have been brought, to say nothing making it all the way to the SCOTUS, where it inexplicably had 4 votes against it?
That vote was a red herring, a distraction. The important case, the one that got 10% of the coverage of Birthright Citizenship, was the one that struck down the independence of nearly EVERY independent agency (over 2 dozen) that regulates EVERYTHING in our country. Now the president can fire anybody, in any agency, for any reason. ALL government regulation is now in the hands of Donald Trump.
That means pharmaceuticals, food, air, water, transportation safety, roads, buildings, mail, workplace safety, etc. literally EVERYTHING in this country that requires regulations to remain safe, are up to Donald Trump. So if the meat industry wants to pay off Donald Trump to loosen safety standards, he’ll take the bribe, and let them write their own rules, and we’ll be eating horsemeat and dogmeat labelled as beef, and it will be perfectly legal, so don’t bother to sue.
BTW, the ONLY agency that SCOTUS protected was the Federal Reserve, which was the one agency Trump really wanted to get his hands on. But the Sociopathic Oligarchs who make these decisions were smart enough to keep the MONEY out of Trump’s hands. They WANT him to fuck up everything else, and make our lives miserable, but they aren’t going to let him fuck up THEIR money.
Yeah, everyone was treating birthright citizenship as a win, when that’s just the law and status quo. The independence of agencies was a clear and painful loss.
No shit things are bad, but that doesn’t mean we should just fold.
Feel free to smugly insult me though, that’s not going to do anything to stop fascism.
I agree that insulting you was cruel, unnecessary, and detracts from the intended message.
I can respect the self-awareness
I wasn’t the person who insulted you - I just agree that they were needlessly cruel and out of touch.
Oh you’re right, your profile pictures were a similar color and I didn’t check the usernames. My bad!
Don’t take it personally it’s better that information get out, it’s shocking how nobody is really talking about how bad this is.
Yeah, it’s bad, but I wouldn’t say no one is talking about it. There are certainly media bubbles where no one talks about it, but that doesn’t seem to be here.
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Ahh, so you are actually a dictatorship now
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Civil disobedience is probably one of the best tools of resistance at this point. If he’s doing blatantly antidemocratic stuff, his orders no longer carry democratic legitimacy and should not be followed. They only have weight if people obey. Sure, he might send someone to remove them from office forcibly, but it would contribute to cracks in his image of power.
Yeah, we only show him that he has the powers he imagines he does when we go along with what he decrees. He’s a despot who derives his power from people’s unwillingness to stand up to him.
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Nothing substantial is going to happen until Inauguration Day 2029. If on that day, Donald Trump is still in office, and the government doesn’t do anything to remove him, then the United States of America has officially ended, and it’s ON!
Don’t wait for that to happen. Don’t let him spend another two years strengthening the state apparatus in preparation for just that. You don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) jump right to violence, but neither should you counsel inaction, endorse defeatism or trust everyone to somehow erupt into spontaneous revolution at some point.
Revolutions need planning and support. If you believe that’s the only way, protesting now is the way to recruit supporters for then.
We have to spend the next two years knocking their legs out from under them over and over. We have to force them to spend significant amounts of personal time and money on defense lawyers, instead of plotting their next scam. They need to be playing PERSONAL defense, trying to keep their own asses out of prison, so they don’t have time to defend MAGA.
And keeping them tied up in legal trouble will shut them up, too. Their lawyers will be telling them to not make comments to the press, which will reduce their ability to spew propaganda, and maybe even suppress their campaign speech. You can’t make wild allegations if you know you may have to defend them in court, under oath.
We can’t do anything about Donald Trump being in office over the next 2 years, but we can make that time miserable for him, and everybody around him.
I saw you insult someone else in this thread for no reason - “You and your comment are stupid because I know what’s really important to comment about.” It’s clear that you’re angry and impotent, and spreading the former paradoxically makes you feel a little less of the latter. You’re not helping anyone or anything, including yourself. And giving yourself an arbitrary 2.5 year deadline to pretend that you’ll ever do more than insult and complain and regurgitate the same articles we’re all reading in this same bubble like you’re the one who really gets it is sad. You complain and insult online today, and that’s what you’ll do every day up to, including, and after Inauguration Day 2029. It’s as ON as it’s ever going to be for you.
“You and your comment are stupid because I know what’s really important to comment about.”
You’re one of those weak minded people who can’t argue the merits of an issue, so you INVENT a quote that I never said, and try to force me to defend it. Not gonna happen.
You don’t know me at all. I have vulnerable people in my life that depend on me, and if MAGA were to do anything to them, I would have nothing to lose, and I would become very dangerous. I am not alone in this. Maybe YOU can’t envision a potential future America that isn’t a Nazi America, but I can see it very clearly, and I don’t intend to be a bystander, like you.
Didn’t the supreme court just give him power to fire certain people he couldn’t before?
Then someone needs to call the legitimacy of the supreme court into question because at this point they’re ruling against the constitution and there need to be impeachments.
And do what? They are completely illegitimate already. We’re finding out the hard way that it’s far too difficult to oust people at this level of government.
Maybe divert all power to the midterm thrusters so we can get people in office that will actually impeach corrupt officials who betray the constitution in order to advance their personal power?
Yep, that would be the senate, and would probably require a super majority. There’s so much that needs to be revamped… expanding the courts, term limits, etc. Which this court keeps showing an absolute needs for!
Unfortunately, appointed by the president so firing them may be legit. Another power grab and the foundation for a fixed election but legit
Assuming Congress was willing to use their authority, the check against this is they must be approved by the senate.
There needs to be a quorum of 4 to do anything, so they already couldn’t legally
There’s no mechanism for temporary or acting commissioners, but that has been a common Drump strategy to circumvent Congress. Just declare an acting one, then when the confirmation period expires, declare a new acting one
Americans really aren’t paying attention. They (Supreme Court) just ruled the pedophile in chief can fire anybody now. Irregardless if it’s supposed to be an independent branch. You are all cooked
And the left continues to cannibalize itself instead of mounting any meaningful resistance to fascism…
Lol let me guess, you think people like Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and Clinton are “left”?
I never said that and you’re making assumptions. But have fun bickering over the bullshit you made up in your head, I’m sure that’s not precisely the kind of thing I was referring to
They’re not even going to pretend to count the votes, are they?
Just a reminder billionaires and private equity bought the voting machine companies like Dominion. All of them.
This is terrifying.
“People turned their voting over to voting machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only let other men with voting machine keys enslave them.”
-SeeMarkFly-
It’s okay, the states do that part. I don’t know what exactly a federal election commissioner does, but the states still run their own elections.
Terminating them is still blatantly corrupt and alarming, and no one should be okay with it, but this isn’t a deathblow to the democratic process. Still cast your votes in November.
They control federal money that’s used to fund some election-related activities. It’s not the biggest deal in practical terms. As I understand it is not a huge amount of money.
I just hope we get a mean president next time. We can’t afford another corpo Dem like Biden who plays nice with rethuglicans. Fire all of Trump’s appointments day one and test that scotus ruling. Let’s see how they like the unitary executive when we use it against them in every way possible.
No more GOP AGs and FBI directors. I can’t believe Dems actually respected the fake “tradition” of only having conservative FBI directors. Fuck that shit. I want someone who goes after these fascist FBI agents targeting Trump’s political opponents and makes their lives a living hell.
Make those fucks quit or just fire them and replace them with people who actually respect the law.
Yeah, agreed. We need someone who will use the fullness of the corruption precedent the GOP has set against them instead of pretending the precedent isn’t already set. No more playing by different rulebooks.
It’s a sad thing for the democratic processes, but that’s already out the window and it was the GOP who tossed it. Pretending the moral high ground will save us is not enough to pull us out of this death spiral.
The gloves need to come off and we need a hardcore demagafication period. Only then can we reform the system to patch these holes that have been blown in the democratic order.
Oh for sure, still 100% going to vote as if my life depends on it.
They can count???
They don’t count as politicians because they don’t count the voters. They are something else.
They will definitely pretend to count the votes.
Hahahahhahhahhahahhha, no.
Depends on what state you’re in.
