Trump's third-term talk leads lawmaker to call on Congress to reaffirm support for 22nd Amendment and two-term limits

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

Feb 28th, 2025, 8:53 am


A New York congressman is calling on the House of Representatives to reaffirm its support for the 22nd Amendment and its two-term limit for presidents of the United States — saying, “President Donald Trump’s repeated references to serving beyond his second term have unsurprisingly now become standard GOP orthodoxy” — in a newly reintroduced resolution.

“Seventy four years ago, the 22nd Amendment was ratified, ensuring America would never have a king,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) wrote on X Thursday after reintroducing the 22nd Amendment resolution, which he first floated last November. “As the House GOP supports Trump’s allusions to a third term, I’m reintroducing a resolution to reaffirm Congress’ support for the 22nd Amendment’s clear ban on another Trump term.”

Goldman has said that he’s looking to reaffirm Congress’ commitment to the constitution and its definition of how long a president can serve. The 22nd Amendment was first proposed in 1947 in response to Franklin D. Roosevelt serving four terms — from 1933 to his death in 1945 — and then ratified in 1951, marking its 74th anniversary on Thursday.

Goldman’s resolution cites numerous instances where Trump has talked about possibly running again and serving more than two terms. “On February 20, 2025, President Trump told attendees of the Republican Governors Dinner about running for president in 2028: ‘And they tell me I’m not allowed to run. I’m not sure. Is that true? I’m not sure,'” the resolution points out.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/blind-loyalty-to-a-wannabe-dictator-trumps-third-term-talk-leads-lawmaker-to-call-on-congress-to-reaffirm-support-for-22nd-amendment-and-two-term-limits/

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Full headline: ‘Blind loyalty to a wannabe dictator’: Trump’s third-term talk leads lawmaker to call on Congress to reaffirm support for 22nd Amendment and two-term limits

His Threads post -

Post by @repdangoldman

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(also similar but not identical, on Xitter per the article)

Link to tweet

[GiqueCee]

1. Trump is a fucking disease. nt

[Joinfortmill]

2. No Third Term. Krasnov will be in hell with his maker by then.

[nvme]

3. A Third Term? hmmmmmm

Can you say OBAMA 3!

[Karasu]

4. Early on in this presidency I remember a lot of people here saying to ignore this so as not to legitimize it. I would

hope by now that most people are realizing this is serious and needs to be nipped in the bud, now. Or else we might not get another chance.

Even Mac Stipanovich--the GOP political consultant to Kathleen Harris of Bush v. Gore fame--was among the many people who predicted they would do this if Trump won in '24. It's not a chance anyone should be willing to take.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Tamping down the third term hype for Trump

Believe or not, this issue was discussed a while back when there were discussions about Bill Clinton running as vice-president on a Gore-Clinton ticket. The thought was that Gore would resign after the election and President Clinton could serve a third term. This concept was discussed and rejected.

The three ways that trump could run for a third term (i) a constitutional amendment, (ii) trump running as vice president and then have his running mate resign and (iii) trump becoming speaker of the house and then the POTUS and Vice President resigning.

A constitutional amendment is not likely. https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3380306 It is unlikely that such an amendment could get through congress much less be ratified by the required number of states.

The third option has so many variables that it is also unlikely. trump would have to be appointed/elected as Speaker and then both the POTUS and the VP resign. This option does not have the 12th Amendment issue but has so many variables that it is unlikely

The 12th Amendment is clear that no one can run as VP if they are not eligible to run as POTUS. I agree with the legal analysis set forth below.

https://bsky.app/profile/derektmuller.bsky.social/post/3llmjzwnvdc2l

Link to tweet

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=149214

As I told the Associated Press:

Derek Muller, a professor of election law at Notre Dame, noted that the 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804, says “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

Muller said that indicates that if Trump is not eligible to run for president again because of the 22nd Amendment, he is not eligible to run for vice president, either.

“I don’t think there’s any ‘one weird trick’ to getting around presidential term limits,” Muller said.

In addition, pursuing a third term would require extraordinary acquiescence by federal and state officials, not to mention the courts and voters themselves.

He suggested that Trump is talking about a third term for political reasons to “show as much strength as possible.”

Now, there’s no question there is potential constitutional ambiguity here, as Professor Brian Kalt has discussed. But scholars like Professor Michael Dorf a quarter century ago were bolstering the idea of a Gore-Clinton ticket in 2000:

Thus, if Clinton were to be elected Vice President, and ascend to the Presidency based on, for example, Mr. Gore’s resignation, then nothing unconstitutional would have occurred. Clinton would have been elected to the Presidency only twice — though he would serve as President thrice. Under the Twenty-Second Amendment, that is perfectly permissible.

. . . But in seeking the Vice-Presidency — a job, in John Nance Garner’s unforgettable phrase, “not worth a bucket of warm spit” — Clinton would hardly be bidding for dictatorial powers.

Similar claims were made by Professor Brian Gray and elsewhere. But in my earlier scholarship, I found this interpretation weaker than the one advanced by Matthew Franck:

It follows from the 22nd Amendment that Bill Clinton, being “constitutionally ineligible” to be elected president, is ineligible to become president by another route. He is, in short, ineligible to be president, and therefore ineligible to become vice president under the 12th amendment.

I agree. But it’s worth noting that if–and I think it’s still a big if–such a gambit arose, there are tremendous complexities in its implementation. Not the least of which is the fact that after Trump v. Anderson, I believe the Court expressly left open the opportunity for states to review qualifications of presidential (and vice-presidential) candidates outside of the 14th Amendment and exclude candidates on that basis. Vice presidential nominations and ballot access deadlines for them occur in late summer, giving an exceedingly truncated window for review–and, frankly, one that may leave a major party without a vice presidential candidate on the ballot in several states with the approval of the United States Supreme Court. (Setting aside, of course, the will power of someone like J.D. Vance relinquishing the presidency.)

I really enjoy Professor Hasen's election law blog. This article made me smile.

Finally, I doubt that trump will live long enough for these options to be necessary.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. LOL you found this thread

And 45 now claims "he isn't kidding". And given what has been done so far, I wouldn't dismiss it.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. MaddowBlog-Despite the Constitution, Trump says he's 'not joking' about eyeing a third term

The 22nd Amendment says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” The incumbent president doesn't fully accept that.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3lloclwudhk2t

If you're just catching up on news from the weekend, Trump said he's "not joking" about possibly trying to pursue a third term.

The Constitution says, "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice." Trump apparently doesn't accept that.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/constitution-trump-says-s-not-joking-eyeing-third-term-rcna198827

This strategy came to mind anew upon hearing the Republican talk about possibly pursuing a third term in the White House. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of seeking a third term in the White House, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, saying in an exclusive interview with NBC News that there were methods for doing so and clarifying that he was “not joking.” ... “A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call with NBC News, referring to his allies.

.....In fact, in his interview with NBC News, Trump was hardly subtle. “I’m not joking,” he said, adding that there are “methods” in which he could pursue such a goal.

NBC News asked about a possible scenario in which Vice President JD Vance would run for office and then pass the role to Trump. Trump responded that “that’s one” method. “But there are others, too,” Trump added. Asked to share another method, Trump simply responded “no.”

Hours after the NBC News report reached the public, the president chatted with reporters aboard Air Force One and dodged a series of questions on the topic, though he claimed that “people” have asked him to run for a third term — which he said would be a fourth term “in a way” because his 2020 race was “totally rigged.” (It was not rigged; he lost fair and square, and he’s been lying uncontrollably about this for more than four years.).....

I won’t pretend to know where this is headed or the degree to which the president is prepared to defy constitutional law. But Scott Cummings, a professor of legal ethics at the UCLA School of Law, made a comment on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Friday that stood out for me.

Commenting on autocracies around the world that have consolidated power, Cummings noted that in none of these countries “do leaders do all the things that Trump is doing, take aim at all of these independent institutions, and then just walk away.” Rather, the professor added, authoritarians take these steps because they intend “to stay in power permanently.”

trump needs to stay in power and will try to stay in power anyway that he can

[electric_blue68]

8. TY. Just catching it now on Jen Psaki's show w Dan Goldman

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. I also doubt that trump will be around for a third term

Link to tweet

[AntiFascist]

10. I wish him luck, but we should never have to reaffirm parts of the Constitution that are so clear n/t