# Planning for a U.S. Government Legitimacy Crisis

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2112364654991409339
- Source account: [@DataRepublican](https://x.com/DataRepublican)
- Source language: English
- Duration: 3:46
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis

## Transcript

[0:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=4) There's also the path, and John I think will talk a little bit more about this, is that we end up in a very acute legitimacy crisis sometime in the next few months or the next few years where literally our federal government becomes illegitimate.

[0:18](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=18) And in that moment, I believe, and what we know from experiences around the world, is that we can take that breakdown moment and leverage it for a big structural reform, you know, refounding moment.

[0:33](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=33) I wanted to just say that the United Democracy Alliance, which is a huge coalition of the blocking movement, the people that are doing all the lawsuits and the civil resistance and the non-cooperation, they are all organizing and converging under the banner of what's called the United

[0:49](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=49) Democracy Alliance. And they have developed a set of red lines that are now being refined in terms of indicators and metrics, and they're working on creating a situation room so that as we go into the midterm election, they're going to be able to provide real-time updates, real-time information to the movement of movements

[1:12](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=72) so that we can respond to whatever might unfold, either in 26 or when we go into the 28 elections as well, which people think will be even worse than whatever we're going to have to deal with now.

[1:27](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=87) So these folks are organizing. It's being led under the organization called the National Security Leaders of America. It's 1,600 retired cross-partisan military intelligence diplomats, ambassadors that are all working on protecting our democracy.

[1:46](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=106) These are pro-democracy leaders that are leading all this work that we are now connected to. I know, Ro, you're connected.

[1:53](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=113) Danielle and I are connected, and others are connected for that work.

[1:58](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=118) So what I think RAD is offering uniquely is this space around the constitutional legitimacy moment and what are the ways that we can respond.

[2:09](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=129) The memo that Danielle or I will put up in the chat is a memo of an options memo that we created for governors, because if the federal government's deemed to be illegitimate by whatever crossing of whatever red lines and everyone agrees to that, then the governors become the leading governing authority under the current republic framework

[2:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=152) of our constitution. So this memo was designed for them.

[2:36](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=156) We've gotten it to governors safeguarding democracy, and they're reviewing it and considering it. We also have done direct outreach to try to get it to governors in Wisconsin, Utah, and Washington State.

[2:50](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=170) I had previously been able to get it while we're in the safe space here to the governors of Massachusetts, California, and Illinois.

[2:58](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=178) Massachusetts didn't want to touch it. California and Illinois both were interested in getting involved if someone else would take the lead on it. To make that a credible statement, governors and other leaders would need to start making plans now for what functions of government they would have to assume, how they would

[3:19](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=199) coordinate with each other, how they would make outreach to foreign governments, and all the other things they would have to do to basically wall off these illegitimate individuals and keep on trying to run the country or at least parts of the country in the absence of a functioning federal government.

[3:36](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/58EWIUGnWeeR/en/planning-for-a-u-s-government-legitimacy-crisis?t=216) And I really want to emphasize this is not a concept for a secession. No one is talking about leaving the United States.