Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has introduced a joint resolution to amend the 22nd Amendment to allow a president to be elected to three terms in office to give President Donald Trump another four years after his second term ends.
In a press release, Ogles stated that Trump’s “decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years” and that the president “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 further stated, “It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration.
The lawmaker lashed out at former President Joe Biden, saying his administration “has subjected Americans to relentless abuses that will take a decade to correct.”
Small towns and major cities alike have been overrun by millions of illegal immigrants trafficked across the border, fueling a surge in drug overdoses and violent crime. Soaring gas and groceries costs have crushed countless families' financial security. Radical LGBTQ+ agendas have infiltrated schools and workplaces, while DEI mandates have destroyed small businesses, wasted taxpayer dollars, and corrupted hiring practices. Social media platforms were coerced into censoring free speech and suppressing vital medical information. Meanwhile, servicemembers have been stripped of their pay and rank for refusing a hastily-approved experimental vaccine.
The text of the bill reads:
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.
The two-term limit was enshrined in the Constitution with the ratification of the 22nd Amendment on February 27, 1951. The precedent was set initially by George Washington, who chose to step down after serving two terms in 1797. It became an unofficial tradition going forward until Franklin D. Roosevelt broke it. He was elected to four terms in the White House between 1933 and 1945.
This measure is unlikely to pass as it would require a new amendment to reverse the 22nd. This would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress or two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) to call for a Constitutional Convention to propose such an amendment. After this is done, the amendment would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures (38 states) or by conventions held in the states.
Given the current political makeup of the country, there is no way such an amendment would pass.
Moreover, this amendment would not be desirable, regardless of who the president is at the moment. The two-term limit safeguards against the ability of a president to accumulate too much power. It would eventually lead to a consolidation of power in which incumbents could manipulate the system to maintain control indefinitely. We all saw how much damage FDR did over his terms, did we not?
While such a move could benefit Trump, assuming he wished to serve a third term, it might not be so attractive when one considers the impact of having someone like Biden in the White House for 12 years, right?
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