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Amending the US Constitution is an extremely complex and lengthy process.
Congressman Andy Ogles, Republican from Tennessee, is proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow presidents to serve a third term under certain conditions. But how likely is the proposal to move forward, and what does the process involve? Newsweek explains all the details.
Why is this important?
President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House for his second term earlier this week, has hinted at the possibility of serving another term. Now, a new proposal to amend the Constitution aims to make that a reality.
However, the process of amending the Constitution is intentionally complicated, aimed at ensuring broad support for changes to fundamental laws.
What you need to know
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states that "No person may be elected to the office of President more than twice"It was ratified in 1951 and was primarily a response to Franklin Roosevelt's unprecedented four-term presidency. It took nearly four more years for it to be ratified by state legislatures.
On Thursday, Ogles introduced a resolution that would allow a person to serve up to three terms as president if they have not served two consecutive terms. The Republican lawmaker introduced the proposal specifically with Trump in mind.
Trump became the second non-consecutive US president, after Grover Cleveland.
Amending the US Constitution is difficult because it requires that a law be passed first. by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. In the new Congress, Republicans have a slim three-member majority in the House of Representatives and 53 seats in the 100-member Senate.
To move forward, it would need at least 290 votes in favor in the House of Representatives and 67 in the Senate, which is unlikely as Democrats, as well as some Republicans, are unlikely to support the amendment.
After the amendment passed in Congress must be ratified by at least 38 statesCurrently, 28 U.S. legislatures are controlled by Republicans, so it is unlikely that the amendment, if passed, would be ratified by a sufficient number of states.
The last time the US Constitution was amended was in 1992, with the ratification of the 27th Amendment, which regulated the compensation of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This amendment was proposed in 1789 by then-Congressman James Madison, but it was not ratified until 1982. And it took only 10 years for the required number of states to ratify it. Before that, the 1971th Amendment, which gave 26-year-olds the right to vote, was ratified in 18.
Thoughts on this issue
Congressman Andy Ogles, announcing his proposal, he said: "President Trump has proven that he is the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation's decline and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time he needs to do so. To that end, I propose amending the Constitution to revise the limits imposed by the 22nd Amendment. This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs."
On mind Mark Shanahan, a political scientist who teaches at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, Ogles' proposal is just a way to show his loyalty to the president.
“A constitutional amendment requires a supermajority in both houses of Congress. With a slim majority in the Senate and a slim majority in the House, this is just wishful thinking on the part of Congressman Ogles. It’s a way to show his loyalty to the president, but it also emphasizes that Trump’s power is still being checked.”
Congressman Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, said in a comment to Newsweek that Donald Trump’s model today is predictable: “Make a joke” about something unconstitutional or authoritarian; normalize the “joke”; allow crafty Republicans to take the “joke” for a serious idea until it becomes a MAGA tenet. Representative Ogles followed the playbook perfectly in proposing a constitutional amendment to allow Trump to run for a third term, although I appreciate that he at least acknowledges that a third term would require a constitutional amendment. Nothing Donald Trump says or does is funny.”
What will happen next
The resolution will be referred to a House committee, which will decide whether to let it move forward.
Over the course of the U.S. Constitution's existence, more than ten thousand amendments have been submitted to Congress. Almost all of these amendments have been rejected during the committee stage of the amendment's deliberations.
There is a debate about the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution – whether the Electoral College is a guarantor of the stability of the country's political system or, on the contrary, an unnecessary anachronism today. Many advocate making presidential elections direct.
