The GOP Endgame: Rigged or Wrecked Election?

The GOP's disastrous budget left the door open for both options. We'd better be prepared for both.

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Since the passage of Trump’s megabill, I’ve watched journalists and influencers spout two theories for the GOP’s plans for the 2026 and 2028 elections. One is that they don’t plan on having one—they’re upgrading ICE to create a crisis that will allow them to stall any future elections. The other theory? They thought they could slip the budget past the public, quietly gut everything, and still coast to victory before the consequences caught up.

There is evidence for both theories. But I think the truth is in the middle—that they don’t have one strategy; they have both, a dual-track operation.

Plan A is to win. Plan B is to cancel the whole thing.

But here’s the kicker: either path leads straight to authoritarianism if we’re caught unaware, again.

Plan A is to win the next two elections.

That’s the preferred route. The cleaner one. The one with campaign rallies, voting booths, and just enough fake democratic flavor to keep the media calling it legitimate.

Plan A says: Why cancel elections when you can just rig them from the inside?

They’ve already:

• Gerrymandered the hell out of congressional maps

• Stacked the courts

• Purged voter rolls

• Hijacked local election boards

• Rewritten laws to limit who can vote, when, and where

And that’s just the legal and “legitimate” stuff. Evidence for illegal tampering is piling up faster than fake chips at a rigged poker table.

It’s not a fair game. It’s not even a game. It’s a con job, and the con is working because they’ve kept just enough of the facade intact.

But they know it’s brittle. Their base is shrinking, their policies are deeply unpopular, and the budget they just tried to sneak past us? It’s blowing up in their faces.

So what did they do? They pushed back the painful and obvious cuts—like Medicaid and SNAP to after the midterms, and shove it all into a July 4th budget

They tried to sneak it in like it was just another spending bill. One that no one pays attention to. One they could blame on the Dems if they lose ground in 2026 because that’s when the hurt starts.

Which brings us to…

Plan B: If you can’t win the game, cancel it.

That ICE mega-budget? The one loaded with surveillance tools, militarized police powers, and funding to expand detention centers like it’s 1942 all over again?

That’s not immigration policy. That’s Plan B prep.

Let me break it down for the folks in the back:

• You don’t create a militarized deportation force with extra-legal powers if you’re planning a normal election.

• You don’t revive Schedule F (a loyalty test for civil servants) unless you’re purging the bureaucracy for a takeover.

• You don’t push it all through in the dark of night unless you have something to hide.

But this was never just about money. It was about machinery.

Plan B is crisis governance.

It’s detentions, delays, and disqualifications. It’s calling protesters “terrorists,” labeling dissent “election interference,” and using ICE or the Guard to “secure” cities that don’t vote the way they want.

It’s replacing elections with chaos—and calling it safety.

And before you say, “They’d never…”—remember that Trump already floated delaying the election in 2020. He said it out loud. On Twitter. When he had less power than he has right now.

“With Universal Mail‑In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Twitter, July 30, 2020

This time? He’s got the military in his pocket, ICE on steroids, and a Supreme Court that’s functionally a rubber stamp.

So no, I don’t think it’s all just a clumsy oopsie budget. But I also don’t think it means they’ve fully committed to Plan B yet. What they’re doing is building the trapdoor. So if Plan A fails—if the votes, even when rigged, don’t go their way—they can just pull the lever and declare a national emergency.

---

Here’s the good news. Yeah, I said it. There is good news.

We caught it. The resistance lit that budget on fire before it could pass quietly. Now it’s in the spotlight, and even Trump’s base is questioning it. Nobody likes surprise fascism buried in a budget.

But catching it isn't enough. We have to stay loud. Stay visible. Because if Plan A wins for them, they’ll say, “See? No coup. Just democracy in action.” At that point, we’ll be stuck with the appearance of an actual mandate of the people, one with no hope of return.
And if Plan A doesn’t win?

Well, Plan B’s already printed, funded, and locked into law. No election. No constitution. Just an official oligarchy that does what it pleases.

So what’s next?

We blow up the whole damn playbook.
We block their funding.
We shame their allies. We push back against election interference.
We run local resistance ops like our lives depend on it—because they do.
And we make damn sure 2026 isn’t the last election we ever get.

Stay ready.
Stay loud.
Stay dangerous to those who would dance while democracy dies.

—Rosie

🔥 What do you think? Are you on team ‘no more elections’, team ‘they’re rigging elections’, both, or something else? Drop your thoughts in the comments. 👇

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