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Comment by blahedo | Hacker News Reader

I've been wondering all year about what happens when an executive-branch office issues orders that it is not legally qualified to issue; by and large everybody has just... followed them. This may be another example (I don't know quite enough of the legal specifics in this case, though there are certainly others that are more slam-dunk-y in this respect).

What are the enforcement mechanisms here if the states in question---MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, and VA---just said "no go ahead, keep building"? What happens to the companies if they just keep building? I'm not saying they should but at this point rule-of-law has fallen apart so badly that I literally don't know what happens when the government invents a new rule and people just... disregard it. (Particularly if state-level enforcement decides not to play along.) Do they bring in the FBI? Military?

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Short term punishment for states: ICE and the National Guard get sent into cities to make people feel unsafe, under the guise of an ‘immigration emergency’. Perhaps also Marines!

To punish more fully, just illegally withhold federal funds for whatever is most hurtful. Highways? Education? Healthcare?

And to your direct point, I’m sure someone could whip up a reason for the military to take over and shut down the sites if they don’t comply - this _is_ a national security matter after all.

Court system stops any of that? Just comply (or pretend to) with the letter of the ruling and try another barely-distinguishable but arguably different illegal method for the next few months while the gears of the court system grind.

What is _meant_ to stop the executive branch (meant to ‘execute’ the will of Congress, not just follow its own desires) going rogue is impeachment by Congress, but that seems like a far off prospect.

Midterms are coming up next year.

Don't worry, there is a plan. CNN will be in new hands by that point. Reddit's r/all will be, or already is gone from the app's defaults, and much more to come!

I don’t even know liberals that watch CNN. It’s already irrelevant.

If it was truly irrelevant, then there wouldn't be billions being thrown at it.

It's the airport TV's and doctor's office waiting rooms that they are bidding for at this point.

The doctors offices want none of it. It's all FoodTV and HGN.

There is no utility in pissing off 75% of your customers. I'm thrilled that my kid's doctor doesn't even allow patients that aren't vaccine schedule compliant.

I'm in Hell (FL), so more "professional offices" than not have Fox on.

Also, we are pushing hard to make sure kids aren't vaccinated at a state level it seems.

I wish I didn't have so much extended family in the area that I'd be moving away from if I left.

Doctors should never deny patients.

They can take precautions & insist on proper treatments, of course.

It’s this attitude that’s led to us being in this mess. Don’t want to listen to the doctor about basic medical advice? Don’t go to that doctor.

Being medically stupid isn't a protected class. You can refuse service to anyone you want to otherwise. It's not an ER, it's a Pediatrician, and they value not endangering their other patients who actually follow medical advice.

No one said people aren't dumb with their money, but seriously look at some of the numbers that prime time CNN pulls. Twitch streamers have a large audience than prime time shows. There is a reason why cable has been dying and cable news has already dead.

Do Twitch viewers vote? Really doesn't seem like it.

> just said "no go ahead, keep building"? What happens to the companies if they just keep building?

As the article also touches upon, this already happened in the particular case of Revolution Wind: There, work, was forced to stop in August, then in September a federal judge blocked enforcement of the block, and work continued:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/22/judge-orsted-revolution-wind...

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/offshore-wind-develo...

And “what happens” seems to be that rather than appeal, the rule-of-law deniers apparently choose to not care? Work has stopped again:

https://orsted.com/en/media/news/2025/12/revolution-wind-and...

I would imagine that most if not all will comply with illegal orders out of fear of retaliation, which is a very valid fear.

These things take large amount of money from upstream, if the money is cut they can "say" what they want, nothing is getting done, from my understanding

Power of the purse, given to the executive

Don't expect any sort of mass disobedience here. Doing anything in offshore wind requires a large, highly-skilled organization and lot of time. One firm "ahem!" from the Coast Guard, Navy, or Treasury, and that kinda org will back down.

If things fall apart so badly that the CG, USN, and Treasury don't matter - then who's paying the bills for any offshore construction, and who's protecting anything that is built from looting or seizure?

What orders is the executive branch legally qualified to issue?

If they ordered sloppy joes in the white house cafeteria a federal judge would stay the order by noon the next day.

Just something to keep in mind - the actual site of these wind farms is offshore in federal waters, and construction is subject to federal (as well as state) permits.

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