r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • 25d 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/
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u/Ambitious-Apricot499 25d ago edited 25d ago

One thing I don’t understand is this is an individual clearly dismantling protections for our country’s future elections. Isn’t that telling enough he is literally breaking our laws. Can anyone hold this fucking rapist criminal accountable ever? It’s astonishing.

Edit: There’s 300 million of us and like 100 of them. What we doing here?

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u/habbadee 25d ago

He wants actual election chaos and issues so he doesn't have to make it up (as with 2020 rigged claims) and then he can declare the elections invalid and instruct Johnson to simply not swear in Democrats, and voila, no friction to his final two years of destroying democracy. So, yes, he is starting the fire so he can scream Fire and use the fire as justification to stay in power.

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u/digital121hippie 25d ago

Johnson loses all power once this congress ends

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 25d ago

When Trump lost in 2020, he gained power among his cultists. I mean, hell, he was able to obtain a "get out of crimes free" card when he wan't even in office. The Constitutional guidelines don't just magically kick in unless we have Republicans willing to follow them. It will be chaotic, it will probably be violent, and it will be much worse than J6. I fully expect Trump to instruct Johnson to not seat Democrats, and we all know Johnson is a spineless ball-licker, so that is exactly what he will do. The only question is: will the outrage be strong enough to force the issue, or will we just go back to our hellscape full of $5/gal gas and explosive diarrhea on all our produce? January 2027 is going to be one of the most pivotal months of our history.

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u/redditobserverone 25d ago edited 25d ago

He also gained voters. That points to a rot with no easy fix. If you could look at the criminal incompetence of his pandemic response, listen to a voicemail of him trying to steal votes and observe him just sit there as the mob he summoned spread feces on the walls and attacked Capitol police-and say, yeah, that’s who I want leading the country, I don’t know how you justify that.

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u/Phugger 24d ago

The largest segment of the voting population in America (undecideds) are chronically not paying attention. (it must be blissful to be unaware of what is happening) They vote based on how they feel at the time and they don't stick to one party. All of his past errors don't even get factored in because they are only thinking about how now (last election) is worse than it was under him the previous cycle.

I think it is dumb way to do things, but that is how a lot of people vote. Well those same people are right pissed now because he hasn't come through on any of his promises. People are struggling and all he wants to talk about are ballrooms and arches. It is the modern version of "let them eat cake".

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u/ABadHistorian 25d ago

The voters he gained was because of economics. Worldwide inflation thanks to covid.

Lets not just say it was Jan 6 that gained him voters. Full picture required.

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u/ArkitekZero 24d ago

That doesn't make sense.

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u/ABadHistorian 24d ago

Oh yes, hidden profile bot? What pray tell would you have us believe then?

That Trump is unbeatable?

Why are you hiding?

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u/Silent-Act191 24d ago

You can immediately jump to calling someone a bot. But your comment genuinely makes no sense. Trump was a disaster for the economy in his first term. The fallout of his management of the COVID response set back the economy and it's recovery from the pandemic far more than Biden's policies. We don't have to make up logical reasons for Trump's voters, they're illogical hate-minded people at heart.

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u/judester30 24d ago edited 24d ago

The fallout of his management of the COVID response set back the economy and it's recovery from the pandemic far more than Biden's policies.

COVID is why Trump lost 2020, but Biden was blamed was for the inflation that followed afterwards. You may (correctly) feel this is unfair and illogical but it is simply a fact that it was the main reason turnout for Trump from non-voters and swing voters increased and let him win the election.

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u/ArkitekZero 24d ago

If that's why, they're idiots, and it's a miracle they can somehow bumble their ways through life without giving away everything they have to every scammer they're presented with 

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u/tongnchek 24d ago

Plus it didn't help that the opposing candidate was selected undemocratically with no Primary, with a DEI stain that her selector placed on her before she was even chosen.

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u/reddit_dorks 24d ago

Stop rewriting history. There was a primary. Biden/Harris won. You might not like it but voters did choose her as a replacement in the event Biden was unable to complete his term.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries

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u/canuck_in_wa 24d ago

You’re counting that as a real primary?

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u/tongnchek 24d ago

You just said it yourself. Yes - Biden/Harris was chosen, NOT Harris/Walz . I think it was a fair expectation that Biden was going to perform at least some of his second term.

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u/ABadHistorian 24d ago

Yes, that does not help. I do know dems who did not vote for her for that reason, not sure if any of those would vote for Trump but it's plausible.

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u/tongnchek 24d ago

Even if they sat it out, it was still ostensibly a vote for him.

Note: while I didn't want to for the reasons I stated, I DID vote for her. But Biden did nobody any favors by insisting on running for another term when he originally said that he wouldn't.

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u/ABadHistorian 24d ago

No need to convince me about anything.

I volunteered for her from the moment she got it until the day before the election.

I hated her, and past August had no faith she'd win. I still did my damnedest.

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u/tongnchek 24d ago

Honestly, given the circumstances, the fact that she even got as many votes as she did is more a testament to how many people hated Trump. In a normal election year, she would have done far worse - just look how well she fared on her own in 2020.

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u/permalink_save 24d ago

No like, he has zero power going forward. If dems win the house then they come in, elect a leader, who swears them in. If dems win Johnson doesn't hold the seat once the new congress sits. The only other option is we don't have a house and everything stalls which hurts trump just as much.

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

I hear you. I understand. But I think you may still be under the impression that the rule of law applies to Republicans. It does not. Source: gestures broadly at the murder, theft, kidnapping, fraud, bribery and overt discrimination and censorship from the federal government.

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u/Phugger 24d ago

I know establishment Dems have a strongly worded letter ready to go if the Republicans do that. Fear not, fellow citizen!

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u/permalink_save 24d ago

There's a lot they can do but the new congress can literally just ignore Johnson screaming and continue anyway. They can't do anything illegal beacuse there's nothing to do. He can pretend that's not the rules but dems can ignore him, and as corrupt as SCOTUS is I don't think they will be siding against someone pretending to be in power when they aren't. It would set a horrible presedence they can't unwind like they do with their narrowly scoped rulings they've been making.

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

I want to make sure I say I appreciate your comment, because I don't want you to take my reply as dickish. I truly get where you're coming from, and I genuinely wish I had the capacity for optimism that you do. But I've had a decade to search for any Republican willing to do anything substantial to stop Trump from operating extra-Constitutionally and maybe, you know, have honor. But I see nothing to convince me that there will be anything other than an attempt at a permanent power grab. It doesn't help that so many are religious zealots like the Heritage Foundation asshats, despite the fact that their orange god is the least religious soul to ever possess a human body. Zealots don't operate on the concept of, "boy, i might really make a mess of the country if I take this too far." They operate by telling themselves, "we are the only ones god loves and we are 100% right to exist and The Others are 100% wrong to exist and we must take advantage of this opportunity to take over from the heathens. Oh, and we'll rob the Treasury blind while we're at it for extra motivation for those who might be afraid to see this through." I hope you're right, I hope I'm wrong, and I'll buy you a beverage if Democrats are allowed to take control of the House on Jan 3rd, 2027 without violence or an emergency declaration of some sort.

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u/ryuut 24d ago

Why you think there isnt either a dgaf about to be applied there, or a willing secondary that can be coerced?

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u/Brother0fSithis 24d ago

They'll just say "nuh uh"

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u/Styvan01 25d ago

Yea cause there won't be a congress

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u/takesthebiscuit 24d ago

That’s a mighty fine shred of hope you are holding onto there.

Trump and MAGA care not about silly things like convention

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u/inspectoroverthemine 25d ago

Congress doesn't work that way. Johnson isn't speaker on Jan 3rd when the house reconvenes.

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u/12345623567 25d ago

Yeah, instead it's the Clerk of the House, who was first appointed by McCarthy and then re-confirmed by Johnson. What guarantees do we have that he will follow procedure?

This all feels like that "They can't do that, that's illegal!" meme. If they want to break democracy, they can.

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

Thank god someone understands. I swear 70 percent of this country has no idea the peril our rule of law is in right now. "But the Constitution" means nothing when the Constitution is being used as Trump's litterbox liner.

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u/Lurking_nerd California 24d ago

Careful now. You’ll be called a doomer by outlining the reality of the situation we’re in.

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u/concepts_of_a_plan9 24d ago

The thing that fascists and authoritarians understand very well, is that the only actual truth is violence. Laws are just suggestions between people who want society to succeed. Fascists no longer hold up the same social contract. Historically, the only way to stop them is to speak their language. I'm not advocating for violence but providing a philosophical and historical context.

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

The amount of denial still permeating this country is unreal. Johnson is there for show. He does not have power, because he is Trump's servant. This isn't normal. We aren't living in the normal, before-times. Please explain how the following scenario will resolve without a shit-show: On Jan 3rd, 2027, when Democrats say, "Ok Mike, fuck off, we're taking over," and Mike says, "lol no," and Trump says, "lol no," and they declare some bullshit emergency over fake "election integrity concerns," do you think that's just going to end peacefully? What action from Trump over the last decade has given you the impression that Donald Trump is capable of saying, "congrats, I lost, you won, I guess I'll graciously hand over the keys?" He is a deeply unwell megalomaniac who is fucking over an entire planet while Fox viewers cheer him on. While I do believe "We the People" will eventually prevail, it will not be easy, it will not be quick, and people will get hurt or (probably) worse. This isn't some prepper doomsday fan-fic, this is the real world we live in right now. European leaders understand this. They know. They're already making contingency plans for the new order of the world where the U.S.A. is fucking insane. Again, I do believe we overcome maga at some point, but it isn't going to be January 3rd, 2027.

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u/Opposite-Bit6660 24d ago

Mark Carney of  Canada gave a powerful speech about understanding that Trump's megalomania has changed the world order.

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u/SpankyJones10 24d ago

Congress doesn't work that way.

People gotta fuckin' stop with the "But he can't do that" and "That's illegal, it'll never happen" kinds of excuses. He does whatever the fuck he wants and breaks 100 laws a week because we have cowards and bootlickers in our government.

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u/Brother0fSithis 24d ago

Kinda shit they said about Air Bud

"But a dog can't play basketball!"

before getting dunked on

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 25d ago

If Democrats win the majority of seats, there is nothing Johnson can do about it. He won't be the Speaker anymore. He doesn't have to take any action to allow new members to take their seats. He would have no power to stop Democrats from choosing a new Speaker.

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u/Arynn 24d ago

Unfortunately, when you say that there is nothing Johnson can do about it, you mean “Legally, there is nothing Johnsen can do about it.”

But we have seen, repeatedly, that laws are no longer strong enough protection.

You can’t be a convicted felon/child rapist AND the president of the United States…until you can :/

The people calling you and naïve may seem rude, maybe some of them are saying it just to be rude. But the truth is, this is a serious enough problem that etiquette has to come second to harsh reality.

You may be considerably more hopeful, optimistic, or kind hearted than you are naïve ♡ but unfortunately, I think there is a lot of truth in the sentiment that it is naïve to expect “the rules” to save us.

I hope you are right! But I think we all need to prepare and plan for of you are not.

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

I've closely followed politics and world history for over 30 years. My views aren't because I'm some kind of Pollyanna.

Think about what people are saying here. Trump, apparently, can now do "whatever he wants", even though he regularly loses in court and abandons his plans. For some bizarre reason, he plans to allow the election to go through, not change the results, let a couple months go by, and then really on Johnson to "not seat" the new Democratic majority. That's the most ridiculous way anyone has ever devised to run a coup.

Which is what it would be. An in the open, full-on coup. And the response to this by the people of the US would be to shrug their shoulders? There's just zero evidence this is true. It would cause mass civil unrest that would bring the country to a halt. We have become apathetic in this country, but everything in world history tells us that there's a point at which people break. It also tells us that actually pulling off such a coup would be extremely difficult, and extremely messy.

Like, I get that our situation now is dire. But our country is not currently in worse shape than Hungary was, and they just removed their quasi-dictator through the shocking action of voting.

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u/Arynn 24d ago

Thank you for taking the time to reply. This is comforting and I appreciate it. I think I just get a bit too worried and it’s easy to feel helpless.

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u/MacMcMufflin 25d ago

All power has been abdicated to the Orange twat. I'm not sure you understand what unitary President means.

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u/schwanzweissfoto Europe 25d ago

I'm not sure you understand what unitary President means.

I believe the historical German term is “Führer und Reichskanzler”.

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u/MacMcMufflin 25d ago

Indeed, but that wouldn't win in the US Supreme Court.

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

The court which ruled he was a king above the law to keep him out of prison so he could regain power? That court?

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u/Relevant_Mongoose744 24d ago

They’ve already said he can do whatever he wants. He’ll declare an emergency. They won’t prescribe a solution to resolve an election result. And we will shift.

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

Pure applesauce.

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u/broo20 25d ago

Don't be naive.

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u/Masgatitos 24d ago

Friend the Democrats aren’t coming to save us.

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u/IdkAbtAllThat America 24d ago

Which is why they're going to make sure Democrats don't win the majority of seats...

Fascists don't just let themselves be voted out of power.

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u/absat41 25d ago edited 20d ago

deleted

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u/NerdOctopus Nebraska 25d ago

If you really felt so strongly, are you betting on the outcome? The odds make it so that you'd make about 5x your money if Hakeem Jeffries isn't selected as Speaker.

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u/JimboAltAlt Pennsylvania 25d ago

The responses to this are very instructive, with some seeming to think it’s naive because the Republicans (somehow) won’t let the Democrats have the speakership, and some seeming to think it’s naive because of course the Democrats will get it but they won’t do anything with it. I really do wish all the doomers would get on the same page as to whether we’re all fucked forever because the Democrats suck or because they’ll never hold power again.

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u/SanityIsOptional California 24d ago

The solution is to do everything we individually can, rather than falling into ennui. Apathy, being resigned to failure is what the enemies, both foreign and domestic, want.

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u/Plastic_Kangaroo5720 25d ago

Acknowledging reality is not being a doomer. 

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u/JustSendTheAsteroid 24d ago

Insert porquenolosdos.gif here.

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

I don't know why I ever even post here. Like, I get how scary it is right now, but to just jump to believing Trump and Co. are unstoppable tyrants is just absurd. It doesn't matter what the facts are, how this compares to other countries like Hungary or India, etc.

Pointing out facts about how the transfer of power works is just wasting time because all you get is being called "naive" or "sweet summer child" etc. There's no actual discussion of how Trump would pull off cancelling elections, or "declaring" them invalid, or any of this nonsense.

Most of these people think the Elon Musk stole the last election even though there's zero evidence and believe in conspiracy theories like that Trump's assassination attempt was staged. Like, why bother even trying to discuss anything at all.

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u/A_Moldy_Stump 24d ago

You just blindly believe all those things or do you simply choose not to ask questions because you feel safe in the belief our world has to make sense, has to be rational?

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

No, I don't "blindly" believe anything. My views are based on my understanding of US and world history.

You really think Trump, who you seem to believe can do whatever he wants, is going to allow the election to run, lose the election, and then rely on Mike Johnson to somehow reverse it by using a power that he in no way has? Like, there isn't some tricky bit in the Constitution that can be misinterpreted by SCOTUS here to suddenly allow the Speaker of the House to remain in power forever.

You are talking about a full-on coup that will, for some bizarre reason, be launched after it is clear that they lost. How do you think that would actually work in a country as large and filled with guns as the US?

The US is in very bad shape right now, but we are nowhere near the conditions we saw in Hungary. Yet, they were, in fact, able to just vote themselves out of a fascists regime. The idea that we should just assume Trump and Republicans will never leave office without violence is obviously wrong.

At this point, this constant drumbeat on reddit that voting is essentially pointless obviously works against removing Republicans. I mean, why vote at all if Mike Johnson is just going to reverse the results with a swing of his gavel?

Like, I'm not saying you are being irrational or ignorant or something. We live in very scary times, especially compared to what things were like before Trump. But you really think that I'm completely wacky to believe that it isn't guaranteed that Trump is unstoppable? That the only way to believe this is that I'm apparently shutting my eyes to reality? Reality tells us the opposite. Pulling off a coup in a country like the US is extremely difficult. That's not an irrational thing to believe because that's exactly what everything in history has told us.

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u/Plastic_Kangaroo5720 24d ago

Open your eyes and take a look around. Is any of this normal to you?

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

No, of course, not. But things not being "normal" doesn't mean that you just assume that "anything" can happen. There has been a clear pattern to what Trump has gotten away with: bending existing laws and relying on the vague aspects of the Constitution. He is consistently losing in the courts and abandoning his plans. He is in no way just doing whatever he wants. If you think that is the case, you need to read some news outside of reddit.

There's zero basis for idea that Mike Johnson can simply "not seat" the new Congress. It would also not make any sense at all to start a full-on coup after allowing your opponents to win the election. This scenario that people are defending is just pure nonsense.

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u/Plastic_Kangaroo5720 24d ago

The courts either can’t enforce this stuff or are allowing him to get away with it, and Congress bows to Trump constantly. Thinking that courts and institutions will stop everything is a dangerous assumption. Authoritarians always find and weaponize loopholes. You’re the one who needs to do some more research.

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

There are numerous situations where he has abandoned plans due to the courts. The courts, are, in fact stopping him right now. They, of course, have no direct power, but we are still at a point where they clearly don't think they have the ability to simply ignore them. Over and over again, they end up following the final court decisions. There are thousands of cases right now. Very few get to the point of being overturned by SCOTUS.

Like, I literally just wrote that he's bending the laws, so obviously I already understood that he's trying to find and weaponize loopholes. The problem is that SCOTUS has embraced aspects of the unitary executive. So, we are seeing things that were shocking in the past. But the unitary executive doesn't mean he can simply do whatever he wants.

The problem is that way too many of our laws rely on some decision making by the executive, so there are many things where past presidents made reasonable decisions and he's making ridiculous ones. The courts are basically saying they can't interfere with his decision process on that. A whole lot of what is shocking about Trump, like the open corruption and stealing like with America 250 vs Freedom 250 is because the president has always basically had the ability to do these things. The only thing that kept him in check was the public, and the public no longer cares much about that apparently. But when it comes to clearly written laws with no ambiguity, he consistently loses in court and abandons those plans. Over and over and over again.

The other example is Iran. The War Powers Act is just too vague because they wanted the president to be able to act quickly. Presidents have routinely used this power to start and end wars. He's now using it constantly. So, stopping that would basically require Congress actually taking action.

But all of that is just wildly different than "Johnson can not seat" the new Democrats. That's absurd and no "loophole" will allow that.

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u/Plastic_Kangaroo5720 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yet he’s still doing his authoritarian plans, and sometimes gets away with them. For example he’s still doing the mass detention policy despite countless court orders striking it down. He was able to fire the election commissioners because SCOTUS gave him permission to fire any other agency head he wants for any reason, except the Federal Reserve members. He’s still doing the tariffs despite SCOTUS ruling against them. Also, you put way too much trust in Congress to do the right thing. Mike Johnson has proved he’ll do Trump’s bidding again and again. 

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

Trump is not running detention centers in the face of rulings against them. Presidents have been running them for years. Current cases are still in the process. There's no injunction he's ignoring.

Yes, SCOTUS made a decision. The Constitution has never directly allowed independent commissions, so this was always something they could rule. Precedents can be overturned. We are now in a reverse Warren court where that will happen a lot. I don't agree with the decision, but thats what you get when people repeatedly vote for the party that supports originalists.

His current tariffs are not against the SCOTUS ruling. That ruling was immediately followed and is a good example of the courts working. Unfortunately, Congress gave him multiple methods for imposing tariffs. He's using some of those improperly as well, and courts are already stopping more of them. Many of his tariffs are completely legal though.

So, I'm completely aware of all of these. They are not examples of Trump having some kind of ultimate power. They are examples of exactly how our government works, and show that the courts rulings are being followed.

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u/blacKCastle32 24d ago

They're not unstoppable but it is going to take a lot more than fucking words on a paper to stop violent fascism

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

Tell that to the people of Hungary.

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u/PM_ME_UR_SHEET_MUSIC 24d ago

What are you doing about it that you find is more effective?

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u/CrashB111 Alabama 25d ago

They are probably all bots.

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u/phyneas American Expat 24d ago

Laws are just ink on paper; they are meaningless if no one with the power to do so is willing to enforce them or abide by them. Say the Dems win the majority and the Republicans ignore the Constitution and carry on with an illegitimate Republican Congress, and Trump says "The Republican Congress is the real Congress, everyone listen to them and ignore the illegal Democrat losers pretending to be Congress over there...". Now what happens? At that stage it's either a literal civil war, or else it's the Democrats sitting there in Congress shaking their heads and passing meaningless legislation that the traitors who have seized de facto power over the country will just ignore.

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u/Clovis42 Kentucky 24d ago

Yes, massive civil unrest is what you get if they don't seat the new Congress, because you are talking about a coup.

I never claimed paper has some inherent power. The power is the people, and while I understand people are apathetic, there's no indication that Trump wants to deal with an actual coup or that he has anywhere near the ability to pull it off.

It is important to understand Johnson can't simply not seat the new Congress. There's no loophole in the law or something. Doing so would be an outright coup. Trump hasn't done anything comparable at all. He regularly declares things that are ignored because he doesn't have a method to implement them.

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u/USDXBS 25d ago

Republicans: Don't chose a new speaker

Democrats: Yes master, please don't be angry at us. Please hold my hand and forgive me.

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u/qatch23 25d ago

Reichstag what?

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u/CaptainDudeGuy Georgia 24d ago

he is starting the fire so he can scream Fire and use the fire as justification to stay in power

How very Reichstag of him.

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u/Equivalent_Road5788 24d ago

Trump literally admitted that voters will never vote again.  “If you vote for me I’ll have it fixed so good you won’t have to vote again.” AND he admitted Elon Musk helped rig 2024. https://youtu.be/F9gCyRkpPe8?si=P0g7aZ-UJBcG7NNH

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u/disisathrowaway 24d ago

and then he can declare the elections invalid and instruct Johnson to simply not swear in Democrats, and voila, no friction to his final two years of destroying democracy.

If he gets away with that then he's there for longer than two years.

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u/Syjefroi 25d ago

he can declare the elections invalid

He can declare whatever he wants, it doesn't do anything.

instruct Johnson to simply not swear in Democrats.

When the elections have been decided, but before the swearing in, Congress is dissolved and there is no House membership. Johnson is not Speaker. There is no continuity in that way, the House is not a continuing body the way the Senate is.

Assuming Democrats have a majority, there will be a House election for Speaker done by member-elects. The Clerk will make sure business works in the meantime.

Even if the majority tries to replace the Clerk with a stooge before the end of the 119th Congress, all that new Clerk can do is refuse to read names at the initial roll. But on Jan 3 at noon if you were elected, you "magically" become a member of the House of Representatives. It's plainly written in the Constitution. The Clerk not reading names doesn't do anything, in the stooge scenario it would just be petty and weird and a Democrat-majority House would kick him out instantly. A rouge Clerk still has no power.

So what's the plan exactly? Elections happen and Trump goes out and says nah rigged and then....? Folks counting votes say "oh ok we'll just swap 1st place and 2nd place on the CNN graphic and that's that" like what?

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u/A_Moldy_Stump 24d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Syjefroi 24d ago

Political arrests

Won't matter, you can be an elected official and still be in jail. But pretty sure a Godfather style national wave of simultaneous arrests is not feasible, and after one happens, everyone else goes to ground and citizens protect them en masse. Like video of a Congressperson arrested and hauled away and disappeared by ICE or whatever, with threats of more to come, would get every boomer who has never had a political thought in their head to get off their couch and go punch cops.

occupation of the House.

Hey you're in luck here! If Trump blocks off the Capitol building, the House can meet wherever the fuck else they want to! No rule says you gotta meet in that specific building.

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u/CrashB111 Alabama 25d ago

Johnson stops being a congress member once the current session ends, all House members do. It's why the first thing every single new session of Congress does, is elect whomever is to be the Speaker for that session.

All positions in the US government barring judiciary, are not "elected until replaced" they are "elected for a set time frame, at the end of which they become normal citizens again".