• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Realistically, what can Trump and his Republican Congress do?

Status
Not open for further replies.

maxcriden

Member
I went to sleep last night with the results tenuous but unclear, about 10:20 PM EST. Slept terribly wondering about the results. Help me understand please how realistic various actions are, as well as others we haven't thought of. I searched but did not find a thread directly asking about this.

Do the Democrats have the power to stop any of the below from ending?

Roe v. Wade - SCOTUS decision but individual state laws have lessened its power
Immigration as it currently stands - will it be made even more strict?
Refugees - making it so even fewer are accepted
Obamacare - full repeal
SCOTUS seat(s) - filled by whom Trump chooses
Trade agreements - destroyed
Wall to Mexico
Affirmative action - undone
Legalization of gay marriage - undone
Social Security and Medicaid - gutted
Federal Budget - slashed

What else? Are any of these realistically possible?

I know some are SCOTUS decisions but I'm not sure what power in Presidential orders there would be to go against them, or Congressional action.

Senate undid some filibustering rules, right? Is that going to now come back to bite the Democrats in Congress?
 

collige

Banned
Legalization of gay marriage isn't undone in the fucking slightest. It gets undone if and only if Trump gets a replacement for Scalia in and replaces another liberal justice (or Kennedy) on top of that AND this court decides to grant cert to a case challenging a new anti-gay marriage law that somehow hasn't gotten struck down by any lower level court that can read the Obergefell verdict.
 
Doubt they will undo affirmative action.

Well see how much of white America's president he is though, versus just the rich.

He made lofty promises that are too stupid to keep, or that he can't get done.
 
The federal budget is not slashed. What's slashed is the environment, healthcare, probably education, etc... There will be huge deficits.
 

Mediking

Member
Something really extreme and bizarre will happen. I dunno what or when but he will do something that will be extreme and bizarre.
 

BriGuy

Member
Don't forget the dismantling of the first amendment!

He said he was going to have "a long talk" with the media and open the libel laws so he can sue people who he believes treat him unfairly. Even if said lawsuits prove groundless, they'll certainly have a chilling effect on free speech.
 
Education, welfare, Federal unions, FDA and EPA regulations, consumer protection.....All dismantled. The republican dream is going to come true.
 
National Right to Work will destroy Unions overnight. A big reason that Michigan and Wisconsin went red was because of the groundwork that Walker and Snyder did there in busting the Unions. Look how Illinois voted in comparison.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Trump got into the White House without catering to anybody. We're in uncharted territory here.

That's almost the silver lining here.

I don't see him as a right-wing ideologue. He pandered to the basest instincts of extremist right-wing politics in his campaign... but I see no motivation he wants to deliver on that.

We're under the whims of a businessman who wants to win, now. Whatever is the biggest "win", he will do it. He's not motivated by political morality of any stripe. He wants prestige.

So basically... personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement. That's the agenda. Not political ideology.
 
86Fax37.gif
 
theoretically, they can do almost anything that doesn't involve altering the constitution


also, the supreme court can prevent certain things from happening

the new justices would still need to be approved, so i'm guessing that getting enough votes would likely put them closer to center-right than extreme-right
 
That's almost the silver lining here.

I don't see him as a right-wing ideologue. He pandered to the basest instincts of extremist right-wing politics in his campaign... but I see no motivation he wants to deliver on that.

We're under the whims of a businessman who wants to win, now. Whatever is the biggest "win", he will do it. He's not motivated by political morality of any stripe. He wants prestige.

So basically... personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement. That's the agenda. Not political ideology.

The red Congress is definitely though. They are going to draft every one of their dreams and Trump will sign it. Trump has shown zero interest in governance and will simply do what he is told while getting stuff he wants in congress because of his ability to turn people out.


Can some please explain to me how they actually "undo" gay marriage? Would it be likely something they would do?

He is going to appoint another wildly conservative judge or 3 during his term. Then a case comes through that will overturn it.
 

Maledict

Member
Thats true, but i highly doubt the supreme court and trump is going to send the US back to the 50's.

I don't think you have paid attention to the Republican Party platform or Donald Trumpe campaign at all. Or the actions of the Republican Party in places like North Carolina to gut voting rights for black people. The 1950s is exactly where they are aiming for right now.
 

MaddenNFL64

Member
Pass a bill to audit the fed and horribly cripple an independent central bank.

All the dumb fuck red meat will be made into bills. I just hope there are some sane people on the republican side who won't bite on the craziness.
 
Quantum Politics, where the regular laws of political nature aren't followed. This is not going to be a predictable White House.
 

Diablos

Member
National Right to Work will destroy Unions overnight. A big reason that Michigan and Wisconsin went red was because of the groundwork that Walker and Snyder did there in busting the Unions. Look how Illinois voted in comparison.
That and voter suppression. 2010 turned out to be a ticking time bomb, didn't it...
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
The red Congress is definitely though. They are going to draft every one of their dreams and Trump will sign it. Trump has shown zero interest in governance and will simply do what he is told while getting stuff he wants in congress because of his ability to turn people out.

That's.. very true. He was not motivated by political ideology... but he's entwined with a republican establishment that is motivated by political ideology. Point very much taken.

The establishment Republicans are going to use their surprising saviour in the figure of Trump, and Trump is going to use them to aggrandize himself as he has done so far.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
My greatest hope is that he treats the presidency like his campaign and mires it controversy after controversy and gets nothing done and an even longer shot, hurts the GOP in the process. Realistically though its going to be pretty bad and I think the GOP are just going to push whatever they want and Trump will sign it because I don't really think he gives a shit and will use the office to get even richer and push his brand on a national level with little real concern for running the country. The worst case scenario is things get really ugly in this country with guys like Mike Pence running things behind the scenes and pushing some very ugly agendas
 
Theoretically? Pretty much everything.

They'll control every branch of the government. As long as no further justices die they'll be limited on gay marriage since they still have Kennedy on the court, but for almost everything else they'll have a majority everywhere
 

Kill3r7

Member
SCOTUS, environment and regressive social policies. SCOTUS is the big one. The one thing that will have great ramifications for our country for years to come.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Thats true, but i highly doubt the supreme court and trump is going to send the US back to the 50's.

You forget about the Congress. Do you see Trump vetoing things adopted there. Do you see the Supreme Court overturning things approved by Congress and signed by Trump?
 

samn

Member
They can direct their intelligence agencies to use the vast amounts of data they have collected on everyone on the planet to destroy their opponents.

People didn't take Snowden seriously enough because they couldn't imagine anyone except Obama in power. Gotta stop those terrorists and their couple hundred yearly murders right?

Also they can let climate change run rampant which will lead to our extinction by the end of this century.
 

Pepboy

Member
You forget about the Congress. Do you see Trump vetoing things adopted there. Do you see the Supreme Court overturning things approved by Congress and signed by Trump?

I could see Trump vetoing a lot of things (even if voted in by Republicans) as a move on his part to increase his negotiating power with congress. I would expect to see a lot of Pardons this election too.

Basically, powers that are granted the President but that have been traditional "underutilized" as a sort of gentleman's agreement / respect for the common political process may now be utilized a lot. Either because Trump is spiteful or wants to get the "best deal".

edit: In short, because Trump is not really Republican, I think we will see the Congress / Senate and Trump fight quite a bit more than expected.
 

ElFly

Member
I could see Trump vetoing a lot of things (even if voted in by Republicans) as a move on his part to increase his negotiating power with congress. I would expect to see a lot of Pardons this election too.

Basically, powers that are granted the President but that have been traditional "underutilized" as a sort of gentleman's agreement / respect for the common political process may now be utilized a lot. Either because Trump is spiteful or wants to get the "best deal".

edit: In short, because Trump is not really Republican, I think we will see the Congress / Senate and Trump fight quite a bit more than expected.

I think that, nationally, as long as he gets what he wants (less taxes for his family) he will do whatever the republicans want; he already promised many thing they want to anyway, and for the rest, I doubt he has much interest

real problem will be foreign policy. it's hard to say what will happen there and it is one area where Trump and the Republicans clearly don't see eye to eye. But Trump is so fickle it is hard to predict anything

except that any terrorist attack will be taken as a personal attack and retaliated in full force

wild supreme court cases may have to wait for his second term, if we are lucky and nobody in SCOTUS dies in the next four years
 

Trey

Member
Obamacare probably won't get defunded, but I can see then chipping away at it some more so it becomes unstable and far more of a hassle to the people than it's worth. It's effectively the same thing, but they can message it better so it doesn't look like they're just taking away people's healthcare.

I see a lot of deferment to state governments in order to subvert national agencies. Energy, EPA: we're gonna see a lot of bills worded that way. Easier to sell, works almost as good as cutting out straight like that.

We'll probably see a federal police blue bill that will make killing a police officer a hate crime. Won't go quite as far as making them a protected class, but it'll effectively be the same thing.

The budget bills is when things are really gonna get crazy though. GOP has a lot of leverage, and they're gonna use it. Dems aren't powerless, but they have a long 2 years ahead of themselves.

Foreign policy is gonna be a hot mess.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
That's almost the silver lining here.

I don't see him as a right-wing ideologue. He pandered to the basest instincts of extremist right-wing politics in his campaign... but I see no motivation he wants to deliver on that.

We're under the whims of a businessman who wants to win, now. Whatever is the biggest "win", he will do it. He's not motivated by political morality of any stripe. He wants prestige.

So basically... personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement. That's the agenda. Not political ideology.

Trump is a stupid fuck that was manipulated into picking Pence as VP. Someone who absolutely would want to achieve conservative republican ideology wet dreams even if Trump has zero interest.
 

Jasper

Member
Unfortunately I believe transgender people are going to suffer immensely for decades because of Trump's presidency.

I say decades, because with republicans now in full control - they won't legalize any transgender equality legislation (in fact the opposite, and instead legalize anti-transgender laws like in North Carolina), and also because of trump selected supreme court justices who will vote against transgender rights (which will negatively impact transgender people for decades - if not for the next half century).
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
I could see Trump vetoing a lot of things (even if voted in by Republicans) as a move on his part to increase his negotiating power with congress. I would expect to see a lot of Pardons this election too.

Basically, powers that are granted the President but that have been traditional "underutilized" as a sort of gentleman's agreement / respect for the common political process may now be utilized a lot. Either because Trump is spiteful or wants to get the "best deal".

edit: In short, because Trump is not really Republican, I think we will see the Congress / Senate and Trump fight quite a bit more than expected.

Seeing Trump as someone who wants to achieve anything else than his own well being and fame is a very amusing perspective. Good luck with that!

He doesn't give a fuck about negotiating with the Congress or gaining some good will. The elections proved him that being a TV star and talking a lot about anything is enough to be successful. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a TV show like Chavez.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Outside of Obamacare i doubt many of those will happen.
Even Obamacare I can't see being out and out gutted. Doing so would force millions to be uninsured including many of his very own poor voters. In fact, his "attempts" at healthcare discussion during his campaign are one of the very very very few less horrible areas he's addressed. I mean he's talking about single payer.. I don't see Obamacare being "repealed". Tons of it stripped out, yes.. but I think aside from the most right GOP, most know that an outright appeal would be terrible for this country.
 

El_Mau

Member
What I don't get is why you treat Trump as if he was a true Republican or even if he's gonna listen to his party policies
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom