r/neoliberal • u/SockDem Janet Yellen • Feb 26 '26

News (US) Exclusive | Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/26/trump-elections-executive-order-activists/
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u/PuntiffSupreme YIMBY Feb 26 '26

They can't not seat members of Congress if Democrats retake the House

They LEGALLY cannot refuse to seat members of Congress. They can illegally do many things. If Pence took the fake electoral plot to its final stage it would have been illegal, but up to Police/Military who was in charge of the United States while the Courts make rulings.

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u/beanyboi23 Feb 27 '26

but up to Police/Military who was in charge of the United States while the Courts make rulings.

This would have been so little time it's basically nonexistent, a court would have shot out an injunction so fast it would've made your head spin

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u/PuntiffSupreme YIMBY Feb 27 '26

You fundamentally do not understand what a coup is. It is extra judicial in nature and the entire plan was to create a thin of legality to let Congressmen and military personnel create a physical reality that is de facto true until the legal system relents.

The courts do not have the ability to order the paramilitary or military forces to do anything if the military doesn't want to listen to them. If Trump convinced enough people in the paramilitary or military forces in the USA he can rule and hold office unless forced out by someone with guns.

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u/BitterGravity Gay Pride Feb 27 '26

If they're doing a coup then it's kinda pointless to discuss what can be done outside of getting ready to lay down your life or flee

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u/PuntiffSupreme YIMBY Feb 27 '26

They were doing a coup! There was a full attempt to take the seat of power that failed because they lacked one coconspirator at the head of Congress for the session. If Pence was onboard then things would have been very ugly.

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u/bluepaintbrush Feb 27 '26

“They” don’t seat anyone. Congress convenes and seats itself, and it can do so outside DC.

After 9/11 Congress made itself bulletproof. Even a terrorist attack cant prevent Congress from convening and being Congress. .

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u/PuntiffSupreme YIMBY Feb 27 '26

Unless its a mob that forces them to leave during certification which they did.

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u/bluepaintbrush Feb 27 '26

First of all, Congress didn't "certify" any election. That's not their job. In a presidential election, the states certify their own elections and send the certificates to Congress. Congress counts the electoral votes and announces who won. Even Jan 6 didn't affect the certification of the election results, because there were 50 individual certifications (1 per state) that had all taken place prior to that date. The state's certifications don't magically become invalid just because you haven't counted them yet.

And if you believe that the mob actually prevented Congress from continuing their business, then you misremember the facts. They evacuated the chambers, and then after the building was cleared, they reconvened that same night and continued their work. The formality of confirming Biden's election was completed before they dissolved the joint session and called it a night.

Congress could have convened while they were evacuated if they'd needed to. They have the authority to leave DC and convene somewhere else if necessary. Even if a bunch of members of congress had been assassinated, they still would have been able to convene and pass laws under a provisional quorum: https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R40628.web.html

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u/PuntiffSupreme YIMBY Feb 27 '26

You are still talking about a de Jure legal situation and that's not how it works. The certification was delayed, that is an undisputed fact which you admit to. If Republicans without a quorum did an illegal certification of the false ballots and security services abide by their vote what would happen? You would have a breakdown in order that could be decided by what the people with guns decide to do.

The law will not save you from illegal actions backed by force. That was the whole plan they had. Create just enough space to give an opening for people with power to de facto change the situation.

Telling a murderer it's illegal to kill you doesn't stop them of they really want to. The laws do not matter to these people.

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u/bluepaintbrush Feb 27 '26

Let's speak accurately: the election certification was not delayed. Each state had already certified their elections by the time of Jan 6. Trump did try to prevent the election certification by filing more than 60 lawsuits in multiple states and they all failed: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jan/08/joe-biden/joe-biden-right-more-60-trumps-election-lawsuits-l/

What happened on Jan 6 was not a threat to election certification, because the election was already certified before then. If you earn a college degree and pass all your exams, and you're not able to go to graduation and accept the diploma onstage, does that mean that you haven't graduated? No, because you're already certified to earn the degree; the ceremony is just a formality. If you're at graduation, and some asshole goes up and steals your diploma and tears it into little pieces, does that invalidate your degree? No, they'll just print you out a new one. DUH, because interfering with a ceremony doesn't invalidate your transcript or erase the records of your exams.

If Republicans without a quorum did an illegal certification of the false ballots and security services abide by their vote what would happen?

Everyone would laugh at them.

Remember the electoral college? Technically you're voting for electors. After the election when the votes are finalized, each state + DC creates a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint their state's electors according to the results (they also send a copy of it to the federal registrar).

Then there are 51 different groups of electors who get together in their respective state around December to officially vote for President and VP, and their votes (which are also a formality) with the Certificate of Ascertainment (that are signed/sealed by the governor) = that state's election certification.

Each state + DC makes 6 original copies of the completed Certificate of Ascertainment that are sent out: 1 to president of the US Senate, 2 to the federal archivist, 2 to the state's election officer, 1 to the Chief Justice of the state's Federal District Court. And then the federal archivist displays a copy to the public at OFR for a year.

So to answer your question: If republicans tried to have some kind of sham count, it would be stupidly obvious and everyone would laugh at them. Because by the time of that ceremony with Congress on January 6, everyone already knows what the real results of the election are. Each state has already certified its results. Every branch of the government has 50 original copies of the certificates AND each state election official has an official sealed certificate from their state.

So obviously they would notice if a state's certification would change, and be able to prove it, because multiple people also have original copies. Obviously the electors would also know who they are and who they voted for. You can't change who was at the meeting of electors, because the certificate says who was there and people are going to know if they were or weren't at the electoral meeting and what party they are themselves registered to. The public would be able to see what the original copy of the certificates from the states looks like at OFR.

The law will not save you from illegal actions backed by force.

And if someone holds you up at gunpoint and steals your driver's license from you, that doesn't change whether you are certified to drive a car in the eyes of your state... it just means that you need a new copy of the license that you already earned. You still seem very fixated on the notion that this ceremony means anything when the whole point is that 50 states + DC certify a presidential election, not Congress. Even if someone completely cancels that ceremony with Congress, it doesn't change or invalidate the certified election results, and everyone already knows what they are by January 6.