• BigFig@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      What’s stopping him now from dissolving congress? From sending them all back home and requiring governors send new representatives. This situation is the LITERAL slippery slope Republicans have cried about for decades

      • tea@lemmy.today
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        5 months ago

        The thing is that they would just not dissolve and say he has no power to do so. Biden is immune from prosecution for this, but he doesn’t have power to dissolve congress and would ignore him.

        What he could do is say that congress (or Trump or SCOTUS for that matter) are a threat to the nation and then have them assassinated or imprisoned. Based on this ruling, he’d be immune from prosecution for this act and would effectively dissolve them by force.

        The fact that it almost incentives the president to take the most extreme and authoritarian action is the scariest part of this ruling to me.

            • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              First day of the next Supreme Court term is the first Monday in October, well before election day.

              Let’s have Biden call for a giant mob to show up in Washington and have them raid the place. He can promise to keep the police away, and sign a blanket pardon for all acts.

              See how fast the Congress changes that law.

              • merc@sh.itjust.works
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                5 months ago

                What does any of that have to do with presidential immunity? He could have done that at any time if he wanted to, but he doesn’t want to because he deeply believes in the system, and because people wouldn’t do it even if he called for it to happen.

      • snooggums
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        5 months ago

        Dissolving congress isn’t an executive branch power. Congress can just ignore something like that.

        The president can’t just will that kind of a thing into existence.

        • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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          5 months ago

          Having the FBI arrest half of them and hold them indefinitely is within his authority, he just has to argue they’re terrorists. He could say every member of congress who made statements defending the January 6 insurrection is a terrorist and send them to gitmo. He’s more likely to come after the squad though.

          • snooggums
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            5 months ago

            Every member of congress that was part of the attempt to overthrow rhe election is an insurrectionist and should be detained or in jail by now.

        • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Shooting a gun is well within the president’s power. If he can shoot a gun with no consequences, Congress doesn’t have the ability to ignore shit.

          • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.social
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            5 months ago

            The President is also the ranking member of the military and could use the military to halt the Congress meeting, since he would be immune. It would also mean that they could not impeach or remove him because he is immune, and you cannot charge someone with immunity.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      As an official act you direct the FBI to detain a portion of congres on… let’s see… suspected treason. Then you have congres vote. Isn’t this how dictators do it?

      • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        Of course that’s not how dictators work because that’s an explicitly legal action in the most democratic society on earth. No way that could be wrong.

        • aberrate_junior_beatnik
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          5 months ago

          the most democratic society on earth

          Wait… do you really think the US is the most democratic society on earth?