# Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 26, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019 "2026-02-26T18:18:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [September 28, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/121 "2026-09-28T23:36:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When you get two or more sides each with a sufficient backing in the military, then what you get is a civil war. This is what scares me. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/122 "2026-10-01T23:04:52Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Which is why I think the day is getting closer and closer to him saying he has fired everyone on SCOTUS except Thomas, Alito and maybe Kavanaugh. It won’t mean anything of course but I still expect him to try. But can a 2 or 3 seat court make decisions? He certainly isn’t going to get new justices approved. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/123 "2026-10-02T01:06:08Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But can a 2 or 3 seat court make decisions? He certainly isn’t going to get new justices approved. The number of justices on the Supreme Court is set by law, not by the Constitution. Which puts us right back to the basic question - what does Congress do when the President breaks the law. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/124 "2026-10-02T01:12:00Z")
Do you mean _ideally_ or _actually_? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/125 "2026-10-02T01:15:58Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > He certainly isn’t going to get new justices approved. You are very definitely correct he won’t be able to get any new justices approved. But it won’t mean anything because even if he says he has fired some of SCOTUS it won’t mean anything in reality. He doesn’t have the power to do it and no one would enforce it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/126 "2026-10-02T01:21:52Z")
He doesn’t have the power to fire them, but he does have the power to kill them. Because they themselves gave him that power. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/127 "2026-10-02T01:25:14Z")
Surely the leopard wouldn’t eat the face that created it? ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/128 "2026-10-02T13:12:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He doesn’t have the power to fire them, but he does have the power to kill them. Because they themselves gave him that power. How does he have the power to kill them? Murder of government officials he doesn’t like is not part of the official duties of the president, which is all his supposed immunity covers. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/129 "2026-10-02T14:13:20Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How does he have the power to kill them? [https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4398223-trump-team-argues-assassination-of-rivals-is-covered-by-presidential-immunity/](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4398223-trump-team-argues-assassination-of-rivals-is-covered-by-presidential-immunity/) > Former President Trump’s legal team suggested Tuesday that even a president directing SEAL Team Six to kill a political opponent would be an action barred from prosecution given a former executive’s broad immunity to criminal prosecution. I’m not commenting on it one way or the other, but I believe this is what Chronos is referring to. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/130 "2026-10-02T14:39:34Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Murder of government officials he doesn’t like is not part of the official duties of the president, which is all his supposed immunity covers. That’s part of the problem. There is no definition of what the “official duties of the president” are, which gives them a Pacific Ocean-sized amount of wiggle room. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019/131 "2026-10-02T14:41:14Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How does he have the power to kill them? Murder of government officials he doesn’t like is not part of the official duties of the president, which is all his supposed immunity covers. Just wait until they get on a boat, declare it a drug boat, and then apparently they can blown to pieces without any further thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-seeking-executive-power-over-elections-is-urged-to-declare-emergency/1028019.md?page=6)