If we live in an oscillating universe, and both gravity and electromagnetism are incapable of resisting the process, for example the universe was a hot plasma in the beginning, and currently galaxies are accelerating apart, then it says to me that gravity & electromagnetism are inconsequential to the process.

This is like the "flat earth" history, where the world was carried on the backs of 4 giant elephants. The elephants & gods cared not for the politics of man. Even on a round earth water flows over the surface with negligible effect on the Earth and its cycles.

The universe does its thing, and the interactions of matter & energy may be equally irrelevant to the underlying mechanism.