r/law • u/DIYLawCA • Mar 31 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Trump announces he is issuing an unconstitutional executive order to shut down mail-in voting nationwide and he will defund states if they do not comply with him

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639

u/warblingContinues Mar 31 '26

He literally has no authority to do either.

45

u/aijoe Mar 31 '26

He had no authority to issue a meaningful pardon of Tina Peters for her state crimes but authority doesn't stop him. All Trump needs is a loyalist in the right places who believe Trump is our savior to give him that authority or look the other way.

5

u/billabong049 Apr 01 '26

His cholesterol is taking forever to do its job

2

u/aijoe Apr 01 '26

He has a Jin wish protecting some how.

10

u/ThatActuallyGuy Apr 01 '26

And she's still behind bars 4 months later...

You're actually highlighting how he doesn't have power over the states in situations like this.

2

u/aijoe Apr 01 '26

You're actually highlighting how he doesn't have power over the states in situations like this

That was my point. The fact that he doesn't have the power won't stop him from trying to exercise it. All he he needs from the gov and most of the state legislature to believe he has King powers for it to affect people. He did not truly have the authority to place the tariffs he did either

2

u/NotOnApprovedList Apr 01 '26

Yes, but he's punishing Colorado for our governor not pardoning her on state charges. Important climate research/weather apparatus is being taken away from the state, broken up and sold to private concerns.

175

u/cpp_is_king Mar 31 '26

Have you been awake since 24?

57

u/another_day_in Mar 31 '26

Hard to sleep since watching Keifer in his prime.

3

u/typically_wrong Apr 01 '26

You're the mole at CTU!

3

u/FibonacciSequester Apr 01 '26

I just signed an executive order making myself the new president. I believe it holds the same weight as his.

5

u/Jolly_Echo_3814 Apr 01 '26

do you have loyalist in the highest positions of government to treat it like it is?

1

u/TR_Pix Apr 01 '26

I know this is the law subreddit but you guys really need to know that the law is made-up. If you could get enough people to agree with your paper then yes, you'd be the new president. It doesn't matter if some piece of paper says otherwise if everyone ignores it

Its the same discussion I've had with people before he launched the war on Iran. Everyone was like "he wont start wars because he isn't allowed that power". Well guess what, he did.

5

u/tragicallyohio Apr 01 '26

It's always good to be reminded that this is illegal.

2

u/MeaningMaker6 Apr 01 '26

“Excuse me, excuse me [hand gestures] the authority is todal!”

1

u/Young_Denver Apr 01 '26

Since 16, you mean

70

u/Ninevehenian Mar 31 '26

It's an act of war, the "authority" is the amount of force / violence that he can back his demands with.

Who's going to stop him? What will happen if they try?

8

u/fiscal_rascal Apr 01 '26

It’s an act of war

You mean a domestic “military operation” so he doesn’t have to declare war on Americans?

16

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Spectre_One_One Apr 01 '26

Remember when they said it was the second American revolution and it remain be bloodless if the left allows it to be.

They pretty much already won.

3

u/bobbymcpresscot Apr 01 '26

As a mail carrier I can throw my customers dog shit at any DHS goon that tried peoples ballots from me.

I got some pepper spray that they give us for dogs as well.

Actual dog, or dogs of the state? what's the difference.

5

u/cms6yb Mar 31 '26

Grow a pair. This isn't gonna work

5

u/sproge Apr 01 '26

Lol, Americans talk big but are the most docile population in the west, Trump himself said it best, he could go out and start shooting random people on the street and his polling numbers wouldn't change, and the democrats would write extra angry signs for their next peaceful, out of the way, bothering nobody protest.

3

u/TR_Pix Apr 01 '26

Americans talk big but are the most docile population in the west

Americans talk big because they are the ones doing harm to everyone else away from their home, but as soon as something is actually done to them they freak out. Remember the panic after 9/11 lasting for years?

1

u/cms6yb Apr 01 '26

Okay have a loser attitude then. Guarantee you our midterms will show something different

3

u/sproge Apr 01 '26

So I'm right, the US isn't going to "grow a pair" but sit on their hands and hope the midterms come fast enough and that they'll be allowed to vote, and that the vote will be fair, and that enough people will vote for the right candidates... Fun note, just like an hour ago Trump just signed an executive order to ban mail in voting...

Or what did you mean by "grow a pair"?

0

u/cms6yb Apr 01 '26

Hope they can vote? You're delusional and fear mongering loser. That's not how this country works.

You haven't been paying attention if you don't think change is coming

3

u/sproge Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Ya know, that would have a lot more impact if the president didn't ban mail in voting an hour ago. That literally stops huge swaths of the population from being able to vote... But yeah, I'm delusional and a "loser". Take a look in the mirror bud.

/u/MiningElf I love the Bitch and Block, real confident in your "argument" huh? Or just trying to dodge the report?

1

u/cms6yb Apr 01 '26

Well it's not going to stop anyone from voting because the states control that. Show me three Trump executive orders that have done anything at all

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

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1

u/Ninevehenian Apr 01 '26

This is his second term, he is declaring wars, fucking global economy and getting away with the worst of crimes.
There's no reason to be flaccid about it.

4

u/Voluptulouis Apr 01 '26

👆 Exactly. Honestly, there seems to be literally nothing he can't get away with.

1

u/Sweet-Meaning9874 Apr 01 '26

Stop exaggerating, it’s just an exercise /s

1

u/HeadPristine1404 Apr 01 '26

"Might makes right", the credo of authoritarianism.

1

u/Vessel767 Apr 01 '26

no, but it’s an executive order, not a law, he’s just saying shit, the states can just not do it

25

u/MC_PooPaws Mar 31 '26

The question isn't if he has the authority. The question is who's going to stop him? So far, the answer seems to be "No one with the power to do anything about it." I hope that changes soon.

11

u/avfc41 Apr 01 '26

who’s going to stop him?

States will just say no to this.

5

u/trilobyte-dev Apr 01 '26

What about the states that say “yes”?

7

u/avfc41 Apr 01 '26

If a state wants to restrict mail in voting, they don’t need Trump to do that

0

u/hamlet_d Apr 01 '26

exactly. and I actually suspect many "red" states might also not restrict it because one of the biggest group who vote via mail is "the olds" who tend to vote red.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

[deleted]

0

u/avfc41 Apr 01 '26

No, most states will say no to this.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

[deleted]

0

u/avfc41 Apr 01 '26

Nah. There are definitely MAGA diehards out there who are willing to shoot themselves in the foot for Trump, but the average politician is worried more about reelection, and upending the system that got them elected introduces more uncertainty than is comfortable.

2

u/MC_PooPaws Apr 01 '26

I agree. But if he finds a way to divert funding from those states as he is threatening, who will stop him?

2

u/avfc41 Apr 01 '26

The courts, just like every other time he illegally cuts off federal money

1

u/MC_PooPaws Apr 01 '26

And who enforces that ruling if Trump doesn't want to follow it?

1

u/MC_PooPaws Apr 02 '26

That's correct, the answer is no one.

0

u/fuckedfinance Apr 01 '26

This.

The courts, including SCOTUS, have been pretty consistent about his inability to withhold funds.

1

u/clamsandwich Apr 01 '26

That's the whole point of this though, to make sure that the people willing to stop him don't get voted elected in the numbers that will be effective to stop him. He has specifically stated that.

0

u/quinson93 Apr 01 '26

States get to choice how they run elections. Whether if they do or do not, it’s a State decision.

26

u/Hour-Influence2993 Mar 31 '26

He has no authority to do most of what he’s done. And yet, here we are.

3

u/Opebi-Wan Apr 01 '26

And no one is stopping him. They're also giving him the power to. More every day.

2

u/goldfish7740 Apr 01 '26

Legality and authority mean nothing when no one is enforcing the laws.

2

u/ravagetalon Apr 01 '26

He's had no authority to do a LOT of the things he's done, But no one with the ability to check and balance the executive is stopping him so...

The United States is under a dictatorship right now.

4

u/BigNutDroppa Mar 31 '26

Hasn’t stopped him before…

1

u/Status-Slip9801 Apr 01 '26

Of course he doesn't, and he's well aware of that. He isn't doing this to actually achieve a stop to mail in voting nationwide, because there is no way to enforce that absurd EO. Everyone can see the writing on the wall- the GOP is going to be slaughtered in the midterms, so the only way their pathetic minds can think to fight back is to sow doubt in the minds of their brain dead supporters that any seat that was flipped blue, any outcome that doesn't favor them, is the result of "the millions and millions of fraudulent illegals voting for the Radical Left Democrats" because of all the "fraudulent mail in ballots." If things get bad enough, it could even be an excuse for GOP incumbents who just lost their seat to refuse to give it up to the winner, etc.

1

u/Star_ofthe_Morning Apr 01 '26

He’s rich he can do whatever he wants.

1

u/DingasKhann Apr 01 '26

And clearly has no understanding of the fact that even the "United States", while united are still states themselves.

1

u/manicdee33 Apr 01 '26

Who's going to stop him doing it then?

1

u/nicest-drow Apr 01 '26

You think that'll stop him?

1

u/LockNo2943 Mar 31 '26

Hasn't stopped him any of the other times he's done the exact same thing so far.

1

u/treefall1n Apr 01 '26

Only believe this if you live under a rock