Trump’s third term in the White House is in the crosshairs of a House resolution

A Republican House member presented a resolution Thursday to amend he United States Constitution allow President Donald Trump, and any other future president, to be elected to a third term in the White House.

Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decline and restoring America’s greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to achieve that goal,” he said. Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who proposed extending the current maximum of two elected terms.

Ogles’ resolution is specifically directed at Trump because it says, “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than three times, nor shall he be elected to any additional term after having been elected to two consecutive terms.”

Trump is the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to be elected to a second non-consecutive term. Ogles’ proposed amendment, if passed, would not allow the only three living former presidents who have served two terms (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama) to be elected to a third term.

“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with all the resources necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” Ogles said in a statement.

“He is dedicated to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we as lawmakers and as states must do everything in our power to support him,” said Ogles, a hardline conservative serving his second term in the House. . .

“I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” ​​he added.

Ogles’ move came three days after Trump was sworn in as president.

The resolution also comes two months later Rep. and Goldmana New York Democrat, introduced a House resolution that “reaffirms that the Twenty-Second Amendment applies to two total terms as President of the United States,” and that the amendment applies to Trump, 78.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ogles’ resolution.

Ogles’ effort faces long odds of success.

For a resolution to amend the Constitution to be sent to the Archivist of the United States, it must receive a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If that is done, three-quarters of the states (38) must ratify the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.

He 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states in part: “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.”

Ogles’ resolution seeks to revise this to read: “‘No person shall be elected to the office of President more than three times,” with the caveat that persons who served two consecutive terms may not be elected to a third.

The original amendment also states: “No person who has held the office of President or acted as President for more than two years of a term for which another person was elected President may be elected to the office of President more than once. “.

In his statement Thursday, Ogles said the resolution he was introducing would “enable President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment was written to prevent a repeat of President Franklin Roosevelt’s unprecedented four-term election.

To this day, Roosevelt is the only president who has been elected to more than two terms. He died in 1945, less than 90 days after his fourth inauguration.

Currently, Republicans have an extremely narrow majority of three seats in the House and a majority of the same number of states in the Senate. Few, if any, Democrats are likely to vote for Ogles’ resolution with Trump in office.

Throughout his political career, Trump has repeatedly hinted at his willingness to serve more than two terms.

“I suspect I won’t run again unless you say, ‘This is so good we have to think about something else,'” Trump said. he supposedly reflected to House Republicans during a private meeting in November, shortly after his election victory over former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

In May, speaking to members of the National Rifle Association, Trump said: “I don’t know, will we be considered for three terms or two terms? Will we have three terms or two terms if we win?”

Trump’s openness to a third term doesn’t surprise some people who know him.

Former Fox News journalist Geraldo Rivera, who was a friend of Trump for decades in New York, predicted in December that Trump and his allies would soon turn their attention to the 22nd Amendment.

“For future reference: President Trump and company will soon start talking about repealing/amending the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two four-year terms,” ​​Rivera wrote on X.

Amending the Constitution is not the only way Trump could remain in power after his current term ends.

“Although the 22nd Amendment prohibits Trump from being elected president again, it does not prohibit him from serving as president beyond January 20, 2029,” he wrote. Philip Klinknerprofessor of government at Hamilton College, in a recent article in The conversation.

“The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits someone from being ‘elected’ more than twice,” Klinker wrote. “It doesn’t say anything about someone becoming president other than by being elected to office.”

Klinker wrote that a hypothetical scenario would be for Trump to run for vice president in 2028 and for Vice President JD Vance to run for president.

“If elected, Vance could resign and make Trump president again,” Klinker wrote. “But Vance wouldn’t even have to resign for a Vice President Trump to wield the power of the presidency.

He 25th Amendment The Constitution states that if a president declares that he is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office… such powers and duties shall be performed by the Vice President as Acting President.’ “

Another scenario Klinker envisioned is that Trump encourages a family member to run and win the White House. Once elected, they would serve as little more than a figurehead president while Trump made key decisions.