# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 4) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 22, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678 "2025-02-22T21:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 103
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2041 "2025-11-18T05:34:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The federal government does not have the power to “cancel the election”. The federal government doesn’t have the power to do a lot of stuff but the current administration does it anyway. It is a slender reed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2042 "2025-11-18T05:51:43Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > The federal government doesn’t have the power to do a lot of stuff but the current administration does it anyway. There are things the federal government isn’t supposed to do but can if they’re bold enough and nobody stops them. And then there are things they can’t do even if they want to. “Cancelling an election” is the latter. There’s no mechanism by which they could do so. States hold elections on a schedule established by the Constitution and the state constitutions. Trump could say “We’re not doing an election, I’m just gonna stay president forever,” and the response from all 50 secretaries of state would be “The Constitution and our state constitution require us to hold an election, so we’re holding one”. Under the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, Congress’ role in certifying the election is purely ceremonial and they have no authority to disqualify electors or alter the result. Congress has the power to change the date when the election occurs, but no such effort would get 60 votes in the Senate and it wouldn’t change the fact that Trump’s term ends on 1/20/2029 whether a successor has been elected or not. Anything beyond that would require a constitutional amendment (which is not going to happen) or would result in a civil war when blue states start deciding that if the federal government has abandoned constitutional order then they no longer have any obligation to ackowledge federal sovereignty. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2043 "2025-11-18T06:01:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump could say “We’re not doing an election, I’m just gonna stay president forever,” and the response from all 50 secretaries of state would be “The Constitution and our state constitution require us to hold an election, so we’re holding one”. Or not all of them say that, and some states support him, and we have civil war again, which gets back to my earlier point. It isn’t happening without war. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2044 "2025-11-18T10:13:35Z")
Trump won’t cancel the election. But Republicans could certainly pull the aforementioned elector slate swap they tried in 2020. They’ve learned from last time. How effective is your mail-in ballot if the results of the actual count are disregarded? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2045 "2025-11-18T10:41:09Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > But Republicans could certainly pull the aforementioned elector slate swap they tried in 2020. Nope. > **[Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Count_Reform_and_Presidential_Transition_Improvement_Act_of_2022)** > > The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 is a revision of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, adding to procedures set out in the Constitution of the United States for the counting of electoral votes following a presidential election. It also amended the Presidential Transition Act. > The Act was passed on December 23, 2022, by the 117th Congress, and signed into law by President Joe Biden as Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. > The act is... ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2046 "2025-11-18T11:14:36Z")
Ok, so Trump refuses to debate or campaign, loses the election or leave Washington, and uses the whole of the Federal government to attack his opponents. Now what? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2047 "2025-11-18T12:53:08Z")
Good for Ted Cruz and I hope other prominent Republicans follow suit. His own party gearing up for a “normal” election forces Trump to make his play for continued power openly. He’d much prefer to threaten, obfuscate and keep everything in chaos right up until the last minute. But if Ted, Rubio and MTG are running spirited and hostile campaigns, it will suck up all the attention that Donald craves while he tests the system to the max. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2048 "2025-11-18T14:48:05Z")
Quiet, Piggy: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iKejuses1ns/maxresdefault.jpg "Trump snaps at reporter's Epstein questions: 'Quiet, piggy'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKejuses1ns&t=53) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2049 "2025-11-18T16:23:31Z")
Isn’t ‘piggy’ one of the Nazis’ favorite names for Jews? He must have been talking to Herr Miller shortly before. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2050 "2025-11-18T16:49:29Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > But if Ted, Rubio and MTG are running spirited and hostile campaigns, it will suck up all the attention that Donald craves while he tests the system to the max. Marco Rubio is Secretary of State (and acting National Security Advisor). Doesn’t that keep him busy enough that he doesn’t have time to organize a campaign? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2051 "2025-11-18T16:54:57Z")
That Act was signed by President Biden, and was effective as of December 29, 2022. Who has been taken to court since then? Did it stop subsequent Trump shenanigans? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2052 "2025-11-18T17:12:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who has been taken to court since then? Did it stop subsequent Trump shenanigans? There were no shenanigans because the ones they tried in 2021 wouldn’t work anymore, and weren’t necessary anyway since Trump won the election. That’s not to say there won’t be _different_ shenanigans, and I wouldn’t be shocked if there were the next time a Republican loses the election for POTUS, but it won’t be the same as before. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2053 "2025-11-18T17:23:42Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > There were no shenanigans because the ones they tried in 2021 wouldn’t work anymore, and weren’t necessary anyway since Trump won the election. Trump may have won _because_ of those types of shenanigans, y’know. Did those tricks come to a complete halt after the Bill was signed? If not, was anybody prosecuted? And just an oft-repeated reminder: Bills and laws do _not_ prevent crimes. They merely make it possible (but not always probable) to prosecute said crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2054 "2025-11-18T17:30:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Trump may have won _because_ of those types of shenanigans, y’know. Did those tricks come to a complete halt after the Bill was signed? He did not because they did come to a complete halt. And wouldn’t have been necessary anyway. As a reminder, the tricks we are talking about were what they were trying to use to overturn election results during the certification of electoral votes, and the spurious objections Republicans were making. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > And just an oft-repeated reminder: Bills and laws do _not_ prevent crimes. Which isn’t relevant. This law changed the procedure for how votes are counted and objected to. Per the previously-linked Wikipedia article: > Any objection made by senators or representatives during the counting of the electoral votes must be made in writing and signed by at least one-fifth of the senators and one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives. Previously, an objection required the signatures of only one member of each chamber. > > The law also limits the grounds for an objection to one of the following: > > 1. The electors of a state were not lawfully certified > 2. An elector’s vote was not “regularly given” So they just don’t have the opportunity to try to derail things during the confirmation like they did before. Again, I’m not saying they won’t try something _different_, but they can’t try what they did before, because the law has changed to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2055 "2025-11-18T18:10:06Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Isn’t ‘piggy’ one of the Nazis’ favorite names for Jews? He must have been talking to Herr Miller shortly before. Maybe, but Miss Piggy just seems to be one of his go to insults for women. > **[Alicia Machado: Ex-Miss Universe claims Trump called her 'Miss Piggy'](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37488060)** > > Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado claims Donald Trump, who owned the beauty contest, called her "Miss Piggy" after she gained weight. That’s an article from 2016 about something he said back in 1996. > "And he called this woman ‘Miss Piggy.’ Then he called her ‘Miss Housekeeping,’ because she was Latina ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2056 "2025-11-18T18:11:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Maybe, but Miss Piggy just seems to be one of his go to insults for women. Misogyny rather than antisemitism. Isn’t he just so progressive. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2057 "2025-11-18T18:20:51Z")
It makes sense, though We all know every accusation he makes is a confession. There’s no doubt he’s a pig in multiple senses of the word ---
**Author:** ![TheTooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TheTooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTooth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2058 "2025-11-18T19:40:41Z")
We don’t want him back any more than you want him. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2059 "2025-11-18T19:55:56Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Trump refuses to debate or campaign, loses the election or leave Washington, and uses the whole of the Federal government to attack his opponents. Now what? Now you’ve got a civil war on your hands. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2060 "2025-11-18T21:23:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > You continuously confuse “legal right” with “ability”, and you get upset when others bring reality into your bouts of fantasy. > > _”He can’t do that” and “He is not supposed to do that”_ do not mean the same thing. > > And this is a question of ability. He does not have the ability to cancel the election any more than he has the ability to blow up the Moon or or annex Narnia or prosecute Superman. It does invite (_not_ BEG! You know who you are) the question of whether he has the ability to _ignore_ the occurrence of one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=102) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=104)