Trump claims right to issue executive order on vote-by-mail

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

President Donald Trump on Monday claimed to have the authority to issue an executive order addressing the expected influx of mail-in voting in the November election and said he hadn’t ruled out doing so, in spite of the Constitution’s expressly giving states the right to run their elections.

“I have the right to do it,” Trump insisted, adding: “We haven’t got there yet, but we’ll see what happens.”

Trump made the assertion during a coronavirus briefing at the White House when pressed by a reporter from OAN, the far-right network that has been a vocal ally of the president, and as part of a broader tirade against mail-in voting amid a push to expand the practice during the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, who is trailing his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in the polls, has pushed aggressively for in-person voting despite the pandemic, even as state election officials have moved to expand access to mail-in ballots amid fears that long lines and close quarters at polling places could increase transmission of the virus.



Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/03/trump-mail-in-voting-order-391066

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Executive Orders apply to Executive Branch staff, not States, Counties and Municipalities...

[Ohiogal]

1. Unbelievable

What lengths this dangerous monster will go to suppress voting.

[hlthe2b]

2. No authority whatsoever... just blustering

Link to tweet

[Iliyah]

3. Nope . .

[montanacowboy]

4. This fucker is stark raving mad

is he foaming at the mouth yet? Keep it up you degraded POS, soon everyone will be laughing at him
He is going to get crazier and crazier, screaming he can do this and he can do that, and JUST WAIT AND SEE!

[Squinch]

5. That's just verbal flop sweat.

[Blue Owl]

6. Abolish the Electoral College

They gave us this piece of shit, after Hillary won the election by 3,000,000 votes in 2016.

[Yeehah]

24. And AWOL Bush.....

who ignored intelligence briefings just like Trump.

[AleksS]

7. Waiting for the tea party Trumphumpers with their

Pocket constitutions to point out that elections are constitutionally up to the states. Since they bill themselves as constitutional experts and defenders, In SURE they’ll be ready to correct Trump on this...

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

[maxsolomon]

8. Does he have the right to issue an EO that violates the law?

Probably, since he's done it multiple times in these 4 nightmarish years, until it gets challenged in court.

[hlthe2b]

10. It would have no validity & states/local election officials have no reason to do more than ignore

[TeamPooka]

9. Where's your health care plan? No diversions.

[Totally Tunsie]

11. LOL at "when pressed by a reporter from OAN",

because of course OAN would pressure Chump, rather than playing straight into his slimy hands and his message of the moment. Really, Politico?

[Illumination]

12. Give him a lollipop, put him on his favorite swing & tell Donny everything will be ok...

[Mister Ed]

13. He has the right to bark at the moon, too.

And one will do him about as much good as the other.

[Tommymac]

14. And The People have the Right to send you Packing Nov3, Dear Donnie boy.

I wonder what really evil action he is hiding behind today's distraction.

[eggplant]

16. Sadly, not until Jan 20.

He can run loose, starting fires until then.

[amcgrath]

15. This is the time for Trump to be removed.

There is likely nothing in the constitution that refers to presidential powers over mail in votes. Since there was no mail or postal service at the time it was written.

The problem is not that Trump will claim this right. It is not that William Barr will back him.

The glaring fact, is that in order for a ban on postal votes to be effective, Trump and the GOP must keep or even worsen the pandemic.

They have already seized control from the CDC - and the statistics coming from the HSS have so far been implausible. Loyal GOP governors are overturning mask bans and refusing to impose lockdowns.

They are scaring people back to work by threatening them with no income, or losing their homes. They are saying that kids must return to school. That overseas students must attend in person or be kicked off courses.

Don’t let their be any doubt. For the ploy with a plan to ban mail ballots, the pandemic must be in full swing. For a plan based on removing the postal vote, the GOP require people to keep dying

[obamanut2012]

33. The Postal Service is listed in the Constitution

As an institution no one can touch. So, yes, it was around then, and it is listed to make sure this kind of stuff would never happen.

[AlexSFCA]

17. who runs usps? states?

does he have authority over usps?

[not_the_one]

32. He just appointed his own "fixer" for the USPS, Louis DeJoy.

But STATES control the elections. HE has not one iota of control over them.

The US Supreme Court recently said that states decide the details concerning federal elections.

The problem seems to lie in that republican controlled state legislatures could possibly muck it up, refuse to allow their citizens to vote.

But it would ALSO seem that if enough of the BIG, large populace blue states, and enough smaller ones, could amount to the 270 electoral votes needed, who gives a fuck if the remaining states vote or not? I believe there was a thread which listed those states that would give us the minimum needed.

But we do need to replace republican SENATORS... too.

[obamanut2012]

34. The USPS is protected in the Constitution

It is shocking so many folks don;t know that.

[Angleae]

35. No it isn't.

Article I, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To ...
(snip)
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;


That's it. The Constitution does not "protect" the post office in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't even make it a requirement to ahve one.

[CBHagman]

18. I am actually waiting for the headline or news desk copy...

in which Trump declares he is God and shall reign forever.

And after all this is over, Trump's fall is going to be mundane and bleak.

[NNadir]

19. He also claims injecting bleach is good for you. Who gives a shit what drivel flows out of...

...dribbling mouth?

Everyone with an ounce of sense is waiting for him to be gone, and he's having a panic attack because he knows he bit off way more than he could chew.

He will die in prison.

[BlueIdaho]

20. See you in court.

If it ever gets that far...

[Mr.Bill]

21. "We'll see what happens."

Trump says this a lot. It's how he ends a line of questioning when he has come to the end of his knowledge on the subject. It defines his entire foreign policy. He used that statement all the way through the North Korea crisis. He used it regarding all our operations in the Middle East. He uses it regarding trade negotiations with China.

I can't believe no journalist has called him out on this bullshit phrase.

One thing I have observed with certainty, whenever he uses this phrase, we never see what happens. Because nothing ever does.

Another statement that fits into this category of inaction is "We'll see you in court". It never happens.

[vapor2]

22. REALLY SICK OF HIS THREATS

I live in NV and he can go to court but he will lose. He is melting down with Cy Vance getting his financials, his decline in the polls, the pandemic etc. Counting the days til he is gone. Maybe Putin will take him in.

[lastlib]

23. Did anybody else hear that gurgling noise??

It sounded like somebody trying to talk with phlegm in their throat........a LOT of phlegm.........

[KPN]

25. The fucker knows he can't win and his only chance is to

smear the legitimacy of the outcome. He’s preconditioning his base to rabidly support him contesting the result. He is actively delegitimizing the election before it has even happened. Where the fuck are the decent Republicans. Oh, that’s right. They’ve all been voted out of office in the legislative branch apparently, replaced with tRump loyalists in the Executive, and we may actually get to see in the SC. It should never even come to that though. We are still occupied by an enemy of democracy, the nation, and the Constitution of the United States of America. Are there no decent Republicans, no true patriots?

[DallasNE]

26. John Yoo n/t

[onetexan]

27. LOL el stupido strikes again. He thinks he's king.

[LudwigPastorius]

28. Go fuck yourself, you fascist pig.

That is all.

[Progressive Jones]

29. Hang it up, Trump. There's nothing you can do about it. LOL. nt

[Sloumeau]

30. Donald Trump has zero authority to do this.

If Trump issues an order like this, the states will tell him that has no authority to do this, and then laugh at him behind his back.

[louzke9]

31. It Not Like......

Mail In ballots are bouncing around the country. They are mailed out to you from your county election board. When you complete your ballot and mail it back, it goes back to the board via LOCAL MAIL. In our county, ballots are issued from the COUNTY COURTHOUSE Bldg. There is a DROP BOX at the Courthouse for absentee ballots for those who want to use it. So far our LOCAL USPS has managed to SAFELY DELIVER election ballots. There is a slight risk of voter tampering via a zealous postal worker, but rare and minimal effect. As the USPS Union President stated in a recent interview, absentee ballots are given priority attention. There is no evidence that the USPS will fail delivery of ballots this time.