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U.S. has no plans to send troops to the polls in November, Gen. Caine says (www.pbs.org)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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he highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November's midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won't send troops to the polls.

"The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections," Caine said in the letter to Slotkin, which was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. "Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material."

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[+] -37 points 3 days ago (3 children)

"Martial law" is the leftist version of the rapture. Always on the horizon yet never happens. I was told martial law would be declared 3 or 4 times by now.

Save this comment and come back in two years because martial law is not happening during this administration or any other.

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  • [–] 25 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Sorry, you get no benefit of the doubt with the "It'll never happen" line. We've lost rights and freedoms every day this dunce cap has been in power that Republicans swore up and down would "never happen" and then they did it. This president wouldn't think twice about nuking American if he thought it would benefit him personally, he would absolutely declare martial law to save his own hide.

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  • [+] -11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    Declaring nationwide martial law is not a thing in the United States. It's just not possible because there are too many of us. We're too big as a population and too big of a country and there aren't enough active military members to hold a country of this size with this many weapons.

    There's also no judicial infrastructure to do it. Martial law is the suspension of civilian law. It means no civilian courts, no Congress, no habeas corpus. It means everyone is being arrested by the military and tried by military tribunals. They fired so many people at the Pentagon that there wouldn't be enough courts to hold us all.

    People love to throw that term around because it's always on the horizon and never comes, therefore we can always be scared of it. But it's irrelevant. ICE has what, a $10 billion budget? It's not martial law, yet we have these goons on the streets going after people. But does it make you feel any better because it's not the buzzword we're afraid of? Probably not.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 days ago

    Arguing it's logistically impossible may be true, but that doesn't mean they won't try. This administration doesn't seem to care one whit that what they're trying to do is physically or logically impossible, and they have no regard for due process or the rule of law either. There is no adult in the room, and if it ends in bloody chaos and civil breakdown, so be it. They are banking on people being too passive to do anything about it. Relying on good sense and rational self-interest is absolutely foolish here.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Ahhhh you're one of those "the midterms are coming to save us" people.

    All I want for Christmas is a brain complacent and ignorant enough to feel that way. Even just for a few days.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Uh huh. Any more false dichotomies for me?

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  • [–] -4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    My point is that 99% of Lemmy users ain't gonna do a thing except shitposting and maybe voting at most. Although most will just say things behind a screen like "wow that's cute you think voting works" or "well I can't say what my plans actually are because I'll get banned" which is a very convenient copout.

    I bet dollars to donuts that almost nobody here is a poll worker, nobody is organizing, nobody is canvassing for their preferred candidate, knocking on doors, making phone calls, nothing. And certainly they'd be the last to get off the couch if and when shit popped off for real. Because when times get tough the ones who do the fighting are the ones who were hitting the streets before it got to that point.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    That's a lot of presumptions to build an argument.

    I don't think you're wrong about the complacency, but if I'm not mistaken we're not talking about the fact no one is engaging with the political process. We're talking about the political process being either a facade or just irrelevant.

    If the election is free and fair:

    Republicans win overall = MAGA in control Democrats win overall = MAGA claims fraud, ignores results

    If the election is screwed with, which obviously it is:

    Republicans win overall = MAGA in control Democrats win overall = lol

    Please, suggest what you think would happen if a Democrat landslide occurs in November? MAGA just accepts democracy and moves on? Lol.

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  • [–] -4 points 3 days ago

    Democrat landslides have been happening the past two years. Look at the election results at all levels from school boards to state houses to Congress. If they were going to rig elections they would and should have done so already, because those races matter a lot even if they aren't part of the midterms.

    I'm assuming you're in Canada based on your instance, so let me tell you this: nobody who is a poll worker in the US has ever said that elections are rigged. I'd tell you to sign up today if you were in the US.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    How’s the sand tasting? You seem to have your head buried in it.

    The executive branch currently owns the judiciary. They follow his orders. Any resistance is temporary and just for show.

    This has been done before in other countries, where liberal democracies have fallen to dictatorships.

    If it comes to pass, you won’t mind because it hurts the people you’re against. It gives you convenient scapegoats for the economic frustrations you feel, even though they’re being exacerbated by capitalism and this corrupt administration. Just like everyone else who enables this shit, you tell us there’s nothing to worry about until it actually happens.

    Even though it’s not technically “martial law,” as in the military doesn’t control the government, Trump will simply utilize the Insurrection Act to take control of the National Guard, after contesting or negating elections results under the pretense of a “National Emergency.”

    SCOTUS is there to simply sign off on whatever Trump wants. He handpicked obedient loyalists to take the majority vote.

    Hesgeth is on a quest to fire dissident military officials and replace them with Trump loyalists.

    Trump has been successful thus far in steamrolling right over democratic institutions with zero accountability for his actions. Sternly-worded court orders and warnings aren’t going to stop this administration. A GOP-controlled Congress and SCOTUS will stand idly by and let him have his way. The hypocrisy of claiming to love liberty and the constitution while consistently violating both of those things.

    https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2025/09/federal-force-and-the-specter-of-martial-law-a-cautionary-tale/

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/10/trump-news-judges-warning-martial-law.html

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/12/is-martial-law-coming-next/

    https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-dangers-of-project-2025-global-lessons-in-authoritarianism/

    https://www.phillyvoice.com/everyone-comparing-donald-trump-wrong-fascist/

    https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/us/politics/hegseth-blocks-army-promotions.html

    https://m.beforeitsnews.com/libertarian/2026/08/northcom-conplan-3900-a-prelude-to-insurrection-act-invocation-2851426.html

    This is all centrist media by the way, and one article by a libertarian think tank, and you all love to claim your own warped interpretation of “free-market” libertarianism in support of fascism.

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  • [+] -9 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    My guy, the national guard was already sent into states without their request. And where are they now?

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  • [–] 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 child)

    Actually, they’re still patrolling DC.

    Have you heard of legal precedent? It’s already been done. Trump has paved the way to do it repeatedly with zero obstruction. His test of the legal system was successful. The legal system has failed to stop him thus far. Any appeals at the federal level are just waiting to be dismissed by SCOTUS.

    He’s already violated international law and invaded Venezuela, installing a puppet regime under false pretenses. He started an unjustified war with Iran. He has plans to invade Greenland and Cuba. He knows no limits and laws will not stop his agenda.

    Are we expecting a GOP-controlled Congress to suddenly grow a conscience and stop him before the election? And how will they stop him? Finger-wagging? The only thing he will respect is force.

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  • [+] -7 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    DC is a special case because it's not a state. The legal precedent is now working against them in this situation, because it was dubious whether it was legal when they were first deployed to places like California and Illinois and courts have now ruled that it was not, so now there is no NG in those states that have not requested them.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 days ago* (1 child)

    Cool, he can override all that by invoking the Insurrection Act. I don’t see any motions at the federal level to restrict that power.

    And WTH is the rationale to keep the NG actively deployed in DC? They’re not a LE agency. Simple… it’s to terrorize citizens into silence and submission under the false pretense of a “crisis.”

    Just like the false pretense to use ICE to suppress the “massive wave of invaders.”

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  • [–] -4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    You're arguing at the same time that legal precedent both does and doesn't matter based on how it fits your argument.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago* (1 child)

    And you’re failing to see how Trump doesn’t care about either of those things, anyway. Legal precedent is just a code word that will be used to justify anything Trump wants. When SCOTUS sets precedent, AKA justification, all challenges at the lower level of courts can be dismissed. They’ll be beyond reproach. Trump’s supporters can then claim everything they do is legal, since their rigged Court told them so.

    And here’s more evidence of this, from the fairly conservative NY Times.. If y’all are so concerned with “fair elections,” why are you trying so hard to mess with electoral process, and violate state’s rights to conduct a normal election process?

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  • [–] -3 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    If he doesn't care about legal precedent or court rulings, why was the National Guard pulled out of those states?

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  • [–] 6 points 3 days ago* (2 children)

    Simple. His test worked.

    President Trump said he is removing National Guard troops from Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, attributing the decision to what he described as reduced crime.

    Trump’s handlers have a fair amount of political savvy. He never goes full in all at once. He repeatedly tests the boundaries of what he can do, and gains ground every time.

    He could’ve kept the troops there as long as he wanted. Who would’ve stopped him?

    Yup.

    Fascists don’t capture power all at once. It’s a process of gradual erosion.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago

    I would argue it's not just that. They also weren't ready.

    The purging of the top brass continued, and continues (today being a particularly good day to note that)

    The whole premise of the last two years was preparing for this November.

    Don't bother trying to convince anyone now. Just try to be austere and get ready as best you can, reasonably, and ignore everyone calling people doomers or whatever. I watched that happen for 18 years on climate change and finally understood that the vast majority of people are in fact lemmings whether they like it or not, and will happily walk off the cliff that is pretty obviously in front of us if you're paying attention.

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  • [–] -4 points 3 days ago* (1 child)

    Lmao no the test did not work. That was a PR answer by the administration. They gambled on the population going along with it and/or the courts siding with them, neither of which happened. There was massive public pushback, Democratic governors and AGs sued, and the Supreme Court said they couldn't do it so they were removed.

    Now if you're so addicted to losing and dooming as many of my fellow leftists are, and you wanna convince yourself that this was actually some big brain 4D chess move, then go right ahead I guess.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago

    Again, you’re making a false assumption he has any accountability or respect to the law when it comes to himself, his allies or his agenda. He just uses a weaponized, hijacked version of it against people who disagree with his agenda. 🤷‍♂️

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