(channeling Republican) But but but… this would not be possible, since the leaders of the Demon-rat party would all be in jail, and the party abolished!
There’s a law on the books that says you can’t do that. We must obey the law.
Republicans: “Sure, but what if we … didn’t?”
So what’s the basic point you’re trying to make with the repetition of “what if we didn’t?” Just making sure I’m getting it right.
Sorry. This article has really stuck in my brain lately:
Okay, so you’re putting it in the same context as the article, that Republicans should officially be considered capable of anything? I agree; like I said above, I’m actually really surprised that someone like Boebert hasn’t been sharing top secret government info with Trump on the basis that he’s the real and rightful president.
(Though I’m not sure that, once you get to the point where expelling and arresting major political figures is the right thing to do, it’s not too late already…)
That would depend on the size and armaments carried by the mob outside the Supreme Court building on the day the decision is handed down, would it not?
Trump wouldn’t be on the ballot.
His electors, on the other hand…
We’re still in the period where we benefit from most of them being physical cowards, who still have a lot to lose if they make an overt attempt at physically taking over the government, and fail. So they’ll keep trying pseudo-legal shenanigans in hopes of getting what they want with a minimum of personal risk.
But as more of them get more crazy and radicalized, there’s a risk that enough of them will get to the point where they think that taking up a gun is a good option, that we’ll then see overt violence.
We’re not at this point yet, but don’t forget, we saw groups of armed men hanging around several State legislatures last year, with the explicit intention of intimidating the members of the legislature into voting a certain way. We’re not at the point of actual violence yet, but we’re a lot closer than some people here think.
I think they most definitely would. The conservative majority of the supreme court is heavily ideological. They have whole internalized the idea that the law is to protect the interests of the rich, powerful against the poor and minorities, but they are not necessarily partisan. If they were true partisans, they would have intervened in the 2020 election on Trumps side, rather than letting him lose case after case.
But that is the current court. If the Republicans wanted to go all in on the “What if we didn’t front” they would use their state electoral power to make sure that they have a substantial majority in the house, senate win the presidency in 2024, Over the next 4 years, dismantle the filibuster and expand the court to include 10 new justices chosen specifically for their partisanship. They then pass whatever agenda items they feel like regardless of popular sentiment or constituionality. This results in civil unrest that is used as an excuse to temporarily delay the 2028 elections until the violence subsides and free and fair elections can be held. This may take some time…
In actuality I don’t think that they would do this. Deep down even most Republicans realize that they don’t want an all out civil war or a dictatorship, they want to preserve as much of the current system as possible while still guaranteeing their place near the top of the food chain.
But here’s where “But what if we didn’t?” kicks in again. Say SCOTUS rules 9-0 that he’s ineligible to serve as POTUS after Jan. 20, 2029. Who’s going to enforce it? Trump and his cronies just say “But what if we didn’t pay attention to this ruling?” Think anyone in the GOP would protest? Would the armed forces have to forcibly intervene?
So let’s say Trump does become king, or dictator-for-life, as the OP asks. Who’s going to be his successor, and how will that be decided? That, IMHO, is an even bigger question than Trump being king-dictator in the first place.
Will it be royal hereditary - president Ivanka? Will Trump name his successor on his deathbed?
In order to get a situation where the other two branches of the government essentially ignore the 3rd branch, you have to posit that one political party has overwhelming support…hell, you could do what Dems have been yammering about, which is simply increase the number of SCOTUS seats until you could get the court you want and pack it full.
Who enforces SCOTUS decisions? The Executive and Legislative branches. Ok, Trump is president. Do the Republicans overwhelmingly control the House and Senate as well? That’s where all this fantasy stuff really breaks down, IMHO. I don’t see either party ever getting that level of total control. If they did, then they could in fact simply make changes to the Constitution, especially if they also had control at the state level…so, they wouldn’t need to ‘but what if we didn’t?’ because they would be in control already. With that level of control, you could vacate or change Amendments, write new Amendments, or make other fundamental changes to the Constitution.
Outside of these fantasy scenarios, the Republicans (or the Democrats for that matter) can’t simply say 'but what if we didn’t?. If the fantasy happens, and a party controls both the Executive and the Legislative to the point where they are a supermajority, then they don’t have to fuck around…they can make fundamental changes to the Constitution, and all of this is totally legal and within our system.
It’s your fictional novel…write it as you like and that makes the most sense to you. 
I would say that in your fictional universe, it would depend on exactly how Trump and the Republicans got this magic power to do what they want and how they want it…and what factions are in this power block. Maybe Trump is just a figurehead (the dude is already 75 years old, and looks about a 1000), so the now fully controlled House and Senate might want to be the king builders going forward and they nominate who will be the next President.
What gives the Supreme Court authority over the armed forces?
Nothing.
By doing it without actual physical opposition. You keep trying to minimalize this by claiming that “magic” is the only way it could happen, to which the only proper response is “Alakazam! Governments fall all the time!”
Nothing (as XT says). I’m imagining some generals saying “enough with this bullshit” and sending in the troops, because short of that I’m still not convinced anything could stop it.
I realize it’s all far-fetched, but when you say The Executive and Legislative branches enforce SCOTUS decisions, how exactly does that happen? If the GOP had a one-vote majority in both houses, who would make Trump not be president?
Yes, I get that you are upset with me trying to inject reality into this discussion, as you and others just want to have a good rant and get all worked up. How do they do this without physical opposition? How do they get a supermajority in both houses and the presidency? Because to actually do any of the fantasy stuff you guys are posting either means the Dems go along, the military goes along, the secret service goes along, all the other departments in the government go along, the states go along and the people go along. So…how do they do all of this? Please, feel free to walk me through this incredible series of events that gets us to this point. If it’s not fantasy, show me how it could happen with vague handwaving and ‘what if they didn’t’ horseshit.
Except that we’ve already seen that they didn’t need to “overwhelmingly control the House and Senate” to let Trump skate on all his bullshit. Even with a Democrat-controlled House, a slim majority in the Senate let the Republicans ignore everything Trump did.
Why would this be any different? Ultimately, the only way to unseat a sitting President is to impeach them, and we already know the GOP can block that with just 51 votes in the Senate. Other ways to remove Trump, like the 25th amendment processes, rely even more heavily on the actions of people who will be even more personally loyal to Trump.
If the people with the power to remove him simply refuse to act, he wins. He came disturbingly close to that this time, and there’s been no sign that anyone in the GOP wants to back away from that ledge. In fact, there’s quite a few of them, all over the country, actively working on pushing the US closer to that edge.
Depends on the issue being voted on. In order to make Trump president for, say, a 3rd term, you’d need to change an amendment…the 22nd in fact. You can’t do that with a 1 vote majority in both houses. In order to do most of what’s being posited in this (and yes, it’s very far-fetched…I’m just trying to keep this real) you’d need a supermajority in both houses AND have the presidency…and, realistically, have a large number of state governments also on your side. If you have all that, then you could do much of what’s being discussed in this thread. If you don’t, you can’t…not unless you want to posit something like the military takes sides and becomes the presidents personal praetorian guard or something along those lines.