Nullifying any presidential actions by Donald Trump

[LakeVermilion]

My question is:

Can a case be made by states, or class actions, that actions by a illegitimate government be nullified by courts?

If Trump/Pence, and Congressional Republicans are found to be illegitimate, will the country be able to roll back appointed judges, executive orders and any tax bill that might pass and be signed by Trump?

Certainly any judge appointed by Trump would have to recuse him/her self from the action.

What are your thoughts?

[better]

1. Sadly, no.

The only recourse, of which I am aware, within the confines of the Constitution, will be to elect new leadership, and for that leadership to undo by legislation what parts of the harm can be undone by legislation. Judges will be the most difficult part to deal with.

The only possible exception to that which I can see would be for new leadership to pass a Constitutional Amendment providing some mechanism by which appointments made by an administration that came to power as a result of such a flawed election to be removed, but that, if it is in fact even possible to enact retroactively, would be a tremendously heavy lift.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. No. This question has been raised and discussed on DU repeatedly.

Trump was legitimately elected by the Electoral College. Although the election appears to have been corrupted in various respects by Russian interference (likely with the involvement of the Trump campaign, which I hope Mueller's team can prove), the process itself - the vote of the Electoral College - was not. The government is evil and corrupt but not, in legal or Constitutional terms, illegitimate; consequently appointments and legislation can't be nullified. The only way out of this mess is for Democrats to regain control of the House and Senate.

[Caliman73]

5. I agree, though I would not say "legitimately elected".

I will totally stipulate that there are no legal charges pending regarding the many election irregularities that have been documented that facilitated the EC win. However, I cannot say that the victory was legitimate any more than Bush's 2000 win was legitimate.

That said, within our existing legal framework, there is NOTHING that can nullify elections or legislation as a result of a certified election and people need to stop fantasizing about this.

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. Amateur opinion: No. There is no Constitutional mechanism that supports your wishes.

Judges are appointed for life. They can be removed through impeachment, the same process that impeaches and removes a president.

Yes, your proposal is consistent with poetic justice and portends to elicit elements of "wisdom". But laws and wisdom are not the same. Laws are imperfect and limited in scope. Only legislation changes laws, unless they are proclaimed unconstitutional by the Courts.

[onenote]

4. No. No matter how many times the question is asked the answer will always be no.

And how would it work -- what would be the rationale for rolling back some actions, but not others? After all, if you rolled everything back, you'd end up shutting down the government and cause the United States to default on its obligations.

[LakeVermilion]

10. Thank you all for your responses...

I haven't followed the daily posts thoroughly, so I didn't know about other discussions.

I guess that's what the search is for. Sorry

[nolabear]

11. Never be sorry. Your questions inform others not always here.

The regulars tend to forget sometimes that some of us would actually like to understand things we don’t and they can be of great help, however bored they are with us innocents.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Once again. No.

There isn’t any legal concept of an illegitimate presidency. It might exist in fact, but not in law.

Once someone is sworn in, that’s it. No matter how crooked they are.

[MineralMan]

7. Nope, sorry.

The answer to bad laws is repeal by Congress. The answer for bad Presidents is impeachment and removal, again by Congress. The answer for appointed federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, is impeachment and removal by Congress.

A new President can issue new executive orders. Congress can pass new tax laws.

Congress can be replaced by voters, in the House every two years, and in the Senate with 1/3 replaced ever two years.

Those are the mechanisms. Those are the only mechanisms. Don't bother looking for others. they don't exist.

That is how it is done in our Constitutional Republic. That is the only way it is done.

[L. Coyote]

8. Congress can write new law and impeach judges.

So yes, there is a mechanism to undo what trump has done. Plus, a new president can overrule his executive orders.

[onenote]

12. Judges aren't going to be impeached based on who appointed them

Plus, it takes 2/3 vote to convict, and it is mathematically impossible for the Democrats to have 67 Senators until 2021.

[Fullduplexxx]

9. The dems will need to tsunami the election ... it can be done

[Amishman]

15. It can be done... With a constitutional amendment

Short of that there is no 'undo' button

[Fullduplexxx]

16. Um if the dems take 2/3rds of both houses they can undo all of this and override

Any dotard veto

[former9thward]

13. No.

Some southern states began passing nullification acts when Andrew Jackson was President in the 1830s. They thought the federal government was illegitimate also. After 25 years of back and forth we had a Civil War which settled it.

[Mariana]

14. No.

Conservatives are still fantasizing that proof that President Obama was ineligible to be president will turn up, and his whole presidency will be rolled back. It will never happen.