Lawmaker introduces constitutional amendment to give Trump third term, and cue the fury

Democrats still reeling from President Donald Trump’s election victory will no doubt be apoplectic over a proposal to give him a third term in office.

Presidents are limited to serving two terms per the 22nd Amendment which Congress approved in 1947 following Franklin Delano Roosevelt being elected for four terms as president. Now, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is looking to change that as he introduced a resolution on Thursday that would update the amendment to the Constitution and give Trump time to accomplish his agenda.

“President Trump’s decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years. He has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal,” Ogles said in a statement.

“To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms. This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs,” he added.

“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration. President Trump has shown time and time again that his loyalty lies with the American people and our great nation above all else,” Ogles, a House Freedom Caucus member, said.

“He is dedicated to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him.”

The proposed amendment’s language  states, ‘‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.’’

Language in the 22nd Amendment, which was ratified in 1951, does leave some wiggle room for a scenario like Trump’s in which he was elected in 2016 and then later in 2024.

“Though the 22nd Amendment prohibits Trump from being elected president again, it does not prohibit him from serving as president beyond Jan. 20, 2029,” Philip Klinkner, a professor of government at Hamilton College, wrote recently.

“The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits someone from being ‘elected’ more than twice,” he noted in an article in The Conversation. “It says nothing about someone becoming president in some other way than being elected to the office.”

Trump seemed to joke about the prospect of a third term soon after winning the election in November.

“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” he said. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”

Frieda Powers

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