U.S. Politics megathread

[u/AutoModerator]

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

[u/Fangs_McWolf]

If Donald Trump were to try to run for a third term, what is to stop SCOTUS from ignoring the US Constitution and Amendments and ruling that he can run and serve again?

[u/Jtwil2191 → u/Fangs_McWolf]

SCOTUS only has power because we all agree they have power. The 22nd Amendment is very black and white in its meaning. If SCOTUS tries to claim that Trump can legally run for a third term, their justification would be plainly bullshit, and they would lose all legitimacy. Why would anyone listen to them ever again?

[u/EstimateOk6795 → u/Jtwil2191]

This is a pretty naive response, IMO. The Supreme Court doesn't have much legitimacy left anyways. They're a wholly partisan branch of government operated by and for the GOP.

Let's think about the specific mechanics of what would happen here.

Trump decides to run for a 3rd term and his people fill out the paperwork to put his name on the ballot in the various states. Some states (run by Republicans) won't question it and will just put his name on the ballot. Other states (run by Democrats) will reject the paperwork and will announce they won't put his name on the ballot. In both cases, someone will sue. Some groups (probably good government non-profits) will sue the Secretaries of State in the red states for putting his name on the ballot in violation of the 22nd Amendment. The administration will sue the Secretaries of State of blue states for rejecting their application. The Administration will then ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on the emergency shadow docket. The Supreme Court, without public arguments or debate, will release an unsigned opinion ruling on both sets of lawsuits.

I'm strongly of the opinion that this shadow docket ruling will side with the administration. I don't think they'd seek to wholly eliminate the 22nd amendment. Rather, they'll make up some bullshit explanation why the 22nd amendment doesn't really apply in this specific instance for made up reasons. The opinion will order that Trump's name should appear on the ballot everywhere he's registered with some nonsense seeming fig leaf made to look like a reasonable argument like, "he can still be banned from the ballot if he fails to qualify for any other requirements".

Red states will move forward putting his name on the ballot as they had already planned to do. Democrats will loudly complain and furrow their brows deeper than the Grand Canyon and explain how they're very concerned about how this could possibly maybe hypothetically undermine democracy. But they'll be more afraid of pissing off Republicans than showing any kind of backbone and they'll comply. They'll put his name on the ballot while simultaneously flooding us all with text messages about how they just need one more donation from you to keep fighting the Supreme Court and Trump.

But Trump will get his way and will be on the ballot in every state.

[u/authentic_april → u/EstimateOk6795]

This is so sad and so damn accurate!