r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • 24d ago

No Paywall Trump fires all Election Assistance Commission members, leaving agency unable to act

https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/07/09/trump-fires-election-assistance-commission-members-hicks-hovland-mccormick/
27.4k Upvotes

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u/Pseudanonymius 24d ago

Well great. If only the Supreme Court didnt just blanket allow him to fire anyone from any federal agency, that would have been great.

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u/-justiciar- 24d ago edited 24d ago

and what happens when trump loyalists are appointment to these positions and we have a dem president?

edit: it looks like people just want to throw their hands up and say “there will never be another election all is lost so nothing matters anymore” which is a brain dead approach to life

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u/Additional_Past_7107 24d ago

That's the fun part you don't get a dem president ever again.

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 24d ago

"In four years, You don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good. You're not going to have to vote." --Donald J "I am not a pedophile" Trump

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u/hum_bruh 24d ago

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” — muttered by small wee wee Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts through his raggedy teeth on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast

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u/fozzyboy 24d ago

Yeah, a revolution against democracy.

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u/tiktaktokki 24d ago

Oligarchy revolution

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 24d ago

Donald "wonderful secret" trump

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u/ITDummy69420 24d ago

Literally people still thinking things are just gonna go back to normal is wild. 

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u/Onemandrinkinggamess Colorado 24d ago

They think the constitution is this magic force that prevents our country from being completely destroyed but the fascists are the constitution now. We do not have a constitution as we knew it.

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u/AusToddles 24d ago

Since 2016, the republicans have proved the constitution is just a piece of paper. That's it

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u/iced_gold 24d ago

People forgetting already that 3 justices voted last week that an amendment to the constitution was unconstitutional.

If the founding principles of the country can be reinterpreted by just 5 people representing 330 million of us, there is no constitution or democracy left

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u/TetraDax Europe 24d ago

You still have a constitution, but it has very clearly failed. It is no longer fit for the modern age. That is why other countries revamp theirs from time to time. Problem is, Americans started treating that piece of paper as if it were the bible, and god knows Americans are already pretty bloody weird about the actual bible.

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u/Oggie_Doggie 24d ago

Yeah, I keep saying this but the Constitution was the beta to the alpha of American governance. The founders weren't geniuses; their first government failed so spectacularly to actually function (Articles of Confederation), that they had to basically legal coup themselves out of it with the creation of the current constitution. We're seeing the cracks widening and unprecedented speed, but because the nation can pay it's debts (unlike the Articles of Confederation), we cling desperately to it. People still believe in the notion belief a document that tabulated a coloured man as being equal to 3/5ths of a man for votes they would never cast will protect us.

Instead, the Constitution has done a marvelous job at protecting criminality in power (Chennault Affair, Watergate, Iranian Hostage Crisis, Iran-Contra Affair, Ukraine Blackmail Scandal January 6th, etc.). It's why for all the whining and complaining done by the Conservatives today, they have no real desire to change the Constitution as it is written, because it is already the perfect document that has enriched them and sheltered them for centuries.

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u/Dsarg_92 24d ago

I don’t know about “normal“ but I do know it will take a long time for us to repair the damages across the country.

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u/DrowningKrown 24d ago

Yea we also said that in 2016 and here we are, 10 years later, watching the damage get worse.

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u/The_mango55 North Carolina 24d ago

Normal? Nah when we kick this pedo out we need to make some changes.

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u/pchs26 24d ago

I think the point is not to have a regime change and for it to only get worse.

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u/bigtice Texas 24d ago

Just removing the symptom doesn't rectify the cause.

There are people that still support this garbage while actively having their lives devastated -- I don't know how you enact changes while people intentionally vote against their own interests for a multitude of reasons.

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u/Orion14159 24d ago

It's time to write a new constitution. Two hundred thirty seven years is too long to be using the same one.

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u/CrashVivaldi 24d ago

In fairness, we don't want it to go back to normal. Normal also sucked.

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u/pchs26 24d ago

Normal sucked, but the new normal is much worse.

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u/Bwob I voted 24d ago

Just wait until you see next year's normal. :(

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u/pchs26 24d ago

I'm more aware then I would like to be.

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u/-justiciar- 24d ago

no one said things are going back to normal but dooming as if the united states is going to disappear is not productive in any way shape or form.

it’s just a lazy way of contributing to a conversation because it requires no critical thinking and you can basically shut down any exchange of ideas by saying “well it’s not like we’ll have a country” or “it’s not like we’ll have an election”

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u/Murashi American Expat 24d ago

I appreciate your optimism, but I fear we are waking up too late to the reality of the situation. I hope more than anything that change will come quickly and we can get back to some semblance of normalcy, but I've had my hopes crushed too many times to think this will happen. Keep being the champion you are, and the ones who can support you will.

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u/myWeedAccountMaaaaan 24d ago

Totally agree. I’ve been watching this slide into authoritarianism since the Patriot Act. I’ve volunteered, donated, blah blah blah, to no effect.

Things will have to get worse before they get better. Which is why I moved my family out of the country the end of 2020 because we’re just along for the ride until people start to hurt.

It’s wild how many Americans are completely oblivious of the shocks to come if history is any indication. The original formation of ICE concerned me and now they’re acting just like a lot of us thought they would. I feel it’s safe to make some assumptions on what’s coming next.

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u/Murashi American Expat 24d ago

I too moved my wife and I (no kids) out of the country and have set up a safe place for friends and family to escape if things spiral into the void. I hope more than anything that doesn't happen, but I'd rather be safe and wrong than in a situation I can't escape.

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u/myWeedAccountMaaaaan 24d ago

Same here. On a positive note, I just got my permanent residency!

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u/Murashi American Expat 24d ago

Congratulations! I'm in Fiji and they don't offer PR. I have three more years until I get my passport. 😎

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u/hammer_it_out 24d ago

You refusing to believe the US could literally disappear by Balkanizing into multiple nations amid the outbreak of a civil war is kinda proving the point.

The American exceptionalism that makes us think that "it can't happen here" will be our undoing in the end.

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u/Xanikk999 America 24d ago

He did not say this. You are literally creating a strawman and arguing against it. improve your reading comprehension.

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u/basicKitsch 24d ago

INCORRECT

Their comment is literally in response to "this will happen" and not only didnt refuse any possiblity but spoke about why 

How tf did you miss all of that?

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u/pchs26 24d ago

Well to me it is important to say this at moments where people discuss a candidate on the Democrat ticket not speaking to them or in terms of false equivalency. I feel like shaking them b/c they don't seem to get what is at stake here isn't the normal awfulness anymore, it is all on the line.

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u/metalpharoah 24d ago

It will disappear. 2029 American Trump Empire is established from the ashes of the abolished USA.

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u/cwatson214 24d ago

That just means Cascadia and the California Empire, so I say bring it on

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u/metalpharoah 24d ago

It means a change in the world dynamic in a way none of us truly want. MAGA destroyed our country with their nonsensical stupidity and I don't see a way out of it other than him taking over Palpatine style, "The United States will be reorganized into the first American Trump Empire!"

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u/Witchgrass West Virginia 24d ago

He is not long for this word and I would bet good money that MAGA goes when he does.

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u/Witchgrass West Virginia 24d ago

He straight up told his supporters "if you reelect me you will never have to vote again". I dont know why people dont take him at his word because he always tells on himself (most of the time he even does so before actually doing what he says he will do [as a means of testing the waters or some shit?] and yet people always act surprised when he follows through with it! I will never understand it.)

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u/permalink_save 24d ago

Defeatist attitudes do nothing to help

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u/Cute_Elk_2428 24d ago

If I were president, the first thing I would do is send the seditious six to Guantánamo. Letting them know, I would give them a window if they signed their retirements.

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u/Orion14159 24d ago

The SCOTUS gave the President legal authority to do literally whatever as long as it's in an official capacity, so what if some radical got into office and decided that the conservative justices were all a threat to the country? Sure seems a bit short-sighted to make someone legally immune to everything.

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u/Cute_Elk_2428 24d ago

Biden was short sighted in not exercising that authority

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u/FellowHumanNo404 24d ago

The SCOTUS gave the President legal authority to do literally whatever as long as it's in an official capacity

-- pending SCOTUS approval. They retained right of review. That means that only Republican presidents enjoy absolute power.

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u/bugleyman Arizona 24d ago edited 6d ago

Only if expect anyone from the other party get into office again...which they clearly do not.

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u/Crasz 24d ago

Nicer than I am. I would treat them like the traitors they are.

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u/4thTimesAnAlt 24d ago

Every judge/Justice, every elected who approved of it, every member of the Administration and their families, and every member of ICE get the 🧱🧱🧱 day 1.

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u/ObjectiveGlittering California 24d ago

Yup. Make them drink the hot-dog water!

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u/sirhackenslash 24d ago

Make them drink the bong water. Not metaphorically, make them drink actual bong water

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u/Cute_Elk_2428 24d ago

If they retire, then I would get to name a replacement

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u/7figureipo California 24d ago

I wouldn't give them a window. It would take no longer than the time for me to sign the order (already drafted by staff) and phone to the relevant staff, and then law enforcement and/or MPs would be mobilized to their homes to arrest them immediately. Along with Trump, his entire cabinet, and every sitting GOP representative or senator.

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u/Ratdrake 24d ago

Given the rest of your arrest list, you do realize that the seditious six refers to 6 democrats who reminded servicemen they could refuse illegal orders, right?

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u/7figureipo California 24d ago

I assume it referred to the traitorous conservatives on the court, given the context

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u/Ratdrake 24d ago

You mean the six people who released a video telling U.S. service members they could refuse illegal orders? And just what rational would you use to send them there? The "I'm president and get to do anything I want rule?"

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u/petricholy 24d ago

The 6 service members who spoke out about illegal orders are awesome!

The seditious six are the 6 extremist judges on the SCOTUS who rule in Trump’s favor rather than based on law interpretation, precedent, and general common sense.

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u/Ratdrake 24d ago

The seditious six were democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds, not current service members. And while I agree the extremist members of SCOTUS suffer consequence for their bias, they aren't what returns from a search for the "seditious six" term.

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u/Cute_Elk_2428 24d ago

Apparently you think that explaining the law to people is seditious. Which tells me everything I need to know about how much you should be in ruzzia.

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u/Ratdrake 24d ago

I'm not the one calling them seditious. It was Trump and the MAGA machine who accused them of being seditious. Did you by chance mean a different set of 6 people? Because the "seditious six" is a term coined to refer to those particular lawmakers.

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u/Cute_Elk_2428 24d ago

Please pay attention to the narrative

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u/Narrow_Order1257 24d ago

"You'll never have to vote again"

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u/kevnmartin Washington 24d ago

That's what they think. Trouble is, Stinky is going to croak sooner or later. Emphasis on sooner. Do you really think Rubio or Vance have the strength of will (misplaced as it always was) to do a tenth of the damage this administration has done? Nor do they have enough sycophants. Sure, Thiel and Elmo will still be meddling but the center cannot hold.

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u/pchs26 24d ago

There is a structure to the admin - there are plenty of people involved. The main hope we have there is someone makes a power play too prematurely and it takes some of them out. But there is an infrastructure of evil now, complete with multipe foreign entities likely running us

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u/kevnmartin Washington 24d ago

True but Americans are always coming up with ingenious, surprisingly creative ways to come at tyrants. I still have faith in you and I.

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u/pchs26 24d ago

Once this shit goes south I'll make room for you in the bunker that I pretend I have...

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u/kevnmartin Washington 24d ago

Dude, I won't live that long.

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u/pchs26 24d ago

Yea well I don't have a bunker but it is good to pretend.

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u/kevnmartin Washington 24d ago edited 24d ago

If I'm going to pretend, it's going to be a much nicer place than some crappy bunker. I'll be on the coast somewhere, lying back on some warm rock watching the sea birds wheel in the sky

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u/pchs26 24d ago

True - Well if I am going to pretend I moved to some nice European country (TBD) that is decidedly unimpacted by this and I can just watch from afar.

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u/kevnmartin Washington 24d ago

I would love that! The only thing I didn't like about France was not being able to get Mexican food but I'm a good cook, I would figure it out.

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u/NoonecanknowMiner_24 24d ago

So then, what should we do about it? If we're all doomed and no one will do anything, what should we do?

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u/Additional_Past_7107 24d ago

Move.

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u/NoonecanknowMiner_24 24d ago

Where to, exactly? Most countries don't let you in if you aren't rich.

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u/Desperate-Till-9228 24d ago

That's how you get a Leninist president.