FTC Democrats sue Trump, say firings break law and Supreme Court precedent
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
And yet americans are simply watching from their sofas with their supersize buckets of popcorn while emperor trump takes total, unassailable control.
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With the vagueness of "may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office", I'm honestly confused as to why the Trump admin don't just attempt to claim one of those as the reasons for the firing rather than going through the effort of trying to circumvent the prior ruling
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That would have indicated some kind of foresight, planning, or thought. Not exactly this administration's strong suit.
Plus, they're getting great feedback that no one is going to do a fucking thing about it, so why bother?
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I mean, legally sure. However, I’d imagine he’s been barred from the building, has had his computer access deleted, and has been removed from payroll… so effectively fired, even if not legally fired. That’s what is important and what is fucking uo people’s lives! This shit isn’t some legal gotcha game. Real people are being impacted! Fuck this shit!
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And no-one will do anything about it.
People keep saying "the guardrails will protect us" without realising that Trump and his cronies have removed them all.
People keep saying "the guardrails will protect us" without realising that Trump and his cronies have removed them all.
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Circumventing the prior ruling means carte blanche power to add or remove commissioners on a whim, rather than following due process.
Even if claiming one of those things, the burden of proof is on Trump, because you can't just say, "they're democrats so they're shit" and kick them out.
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This seems to be Trump trying to just push the point to get the SCOTUS to declare him king, under the "Unitary Executive Theory", which if the Supreme Court rules in his favor, gives Trump absolute power to do whatever he wants, with Congress having no power to actually pass laws that have any meaning whatsoever, because Trump will just do whatever he wants.
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You're going to get some downvotes on this, but you're spot on. The average American thinks "ah it can't get that bad."
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Realistically, what is there that the average American can do at this point? Voting is pretty much broken, and even if it weren't the only options besides MAGA are the party of spineless corpo-puppets who still pretend like decorum means anything and the ineffectual 3rd parties that would literally implode the second they garnered any real power. Protests also aren't going to do anything, since standing around with signs is easily ignored, and the protests that go further are now subject to arrests, detainment and deportation. And as a cherry on top, the GOP is more or less entirely in control of the state monopoly on violence, so violent resistance just means corpses on the pile for the deal cult.
I've done what I can, and all I can do at this point is hope that my contributions weren't a complete waste.
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Because they aren’t doing this just to remove these particular people, they are doing this to have this lawsuit happen and try to expand their power further. It costs them nothing in their eyes and should they lose they will simply come up with a pretext as you suggest.
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I cannot wait for the DOJ argument. "Your honor, we have proof that they have not been to their offices or used their gov't devices since at least March 19, 2025. It cannot get any clearer that they 'may be removed by the President for ... neglect of duty' as they currently aren't doing anything that they are supposed to do as FTC commissioners."
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Yeah but that article also asserts that “The smart money in Washington was that after the fiasco of Trump’s first term, his second would see a more emollient president, one careful of his reputation. He would reach out, consult, become a peacemaker, in his desperation to become a Nobel President like Barack Obama.”
So… yeah the writer lives in a fantasy untethered from our world.
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Tariffs, foreign aid withdrawal, firing of politicians, and bluster to Canada and Greenland don’t make people jump up and go “I want to risk my life to oppose this.”
That requires widespread economic missing days of meals type of pain. We’re not there yet.
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Or maybe they could see if Congress can pass some law of any kind at all. Then they wouldn't even need to bother, just change the law, since Republicans have total control
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Aye, that’s Comment is Free. Worth every pence. Please do not feed, you will only encourage them.
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Does it matter? Trump's courts will ignore prior precedent. We're doomed, all safe guards have been removed.
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Beneficial? Yeah, right, like one of his many herpes infections.
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Don't give up yet. Bernie & AOC are getting a lot of traction with their rallies in competitive districts around the country.
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They are speed running the historical example of Germany NAZI rise to power, but dumber. The purge of the former institutions that could stand up to MAGA is what is currently in progress. The ethnic cleansing by MAGA is an inevitability. DOGE will simply round up defiant former employees and send them to the ICE Camps or deport them to El Salvador prisons to make them disappear and serve as an example.
Democrats will say this isn't normal and sit down politely waiting for the next election that will never come. They will be criminalized and disappeared or convert to the MAGA regime. History will be "corrected" to reflect that the god king Donald was always right.
Laws and the constitution mean nothing to MAGA. No one will meaningfully enforce the laws of the former United States of America. All that matters now are the decrees of King Donald and his top enforcer Elon.
This is the final days of the American Empire. The final death rattle before MAGA regime begins the thousand year fourth Reich.
Democrats will say this isn't normal and sit down politely waiting for the next election that will never come. They will be criminalized and disappeared or convert to the MAGA regime. History will be "corrected" to reflect that the god king Donald was always right.
Laws and the constitution mean nothing to MAGA. No one will meaningfully enforce the laws of the former United States of America. All that matters now are the decrees of King Donald and his top enforcer Elon.
This is the final days of the American Empire. The final death rattle before MAGA regime begins the thousand year fourth Reich.
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I guess Im not an average American then, because I think it can get MUCH worse. But until lead starts flying there isn't much I can do except vote and protest, neither of which are now guarunteed rights anymore.
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To paraphrase the big orange turnip: Ah but they are the best protests. The best ever. And the biggest.
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You can cram your pity party where it belongs first, then go ride the asses of every noodle-spined Democrat rep from today to Nov 2026, reminding the bleeders daily who they work for. And you do the work needed to throw GOP cronies out and put your people in, at every single ballot box from school board upwards. Planned, methodical, strategic, righteous.
There are 150 million of you disorganized fools; way more than their 70 million stooges. You got to this point not because the barbarians play better game than you (they do not), but only because they wanted it more so got off their asses and voted.
If you choose to be a Good German now, ’cos yanking your thumb out your ass is just too inconvenient, everything else that follows won’t be on them. That’s all on you.
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Unfortunately only the "Yet" is undetermined. I recommend people arm themselves and stock up on ammo. You are going to need it.
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I'd prefer a "King" like Charles of one like Trump. Charles has little power in the government.
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Interesting question.... not an American, so random thoughts that are admittedly somewhat unrealistic (which underscores the sadness of your situation - my condolences that your country has fallen and seems unable to get up.)
* Join a general strike and stop working, stop paying bills / taxes. Shut it all down until the dictators relinquish power and a unity transition government can keep things running until democracy can be introduced, requiring a new constitution probably. Food (during the general strike to feed the people on strike ) would probably require foreign aid from first world countries, in direct support of the general strike.
* Leave the country.
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"may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."
That's way to broad a definition, especially inefficiency, not sure of how you prove either way on that one
That's way to broad a definition, especially inefficiency, not sure of how you prove either way on that one
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Who had the brilliant idea to give the executive branch control over enforcement for the judiciary?
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I thought this at the time; considering there's an entire DOGE now that's firing people left, right and center as being "inefficient", Trump could have just flagged their positions as being inefficient and said goodbye.
The fact that he DIDN'T do that means that he was trying to set some precedent of his own -- that being that his royal edict is enough to make such things happen. Once he's got precedent there, he can then apply that precedent in other commissions that are supposed to have bipartisan representation. Once he's got rid of all the Democrats in ALL such positions, he can use all of that as precedent to hire and fire whoever he wants in government, irrespective of what Congress or the courts think. At which point, he's set precedent for doing anything he wants in his executive capacity, irrespective of what Congress or the courts think.
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Someone protecting against a runaway judiciary?
Likely the only reason that hasn't happened already is that the executive branch has control over enforcement.
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