#the 22nd amendment

[tomorrowusa]

Never mind the 22nd amendment. Some Trumpsters are already talking about a THIRD Trump term.

The American Conservative magazine published an article last week in which the author, Peter Tonguette, argued that Trump should be able to run for a third term in office in 2028. This drew some attention in non-Trump circles as a potential trial balloon by Project 2025, the authoritarian policy agenda that is guiding Trumpworld right now. Tonguette argued that Trump’s victory in the GOP primary contest this year shows that voters still support him—and that they should be allowed to do so indefinitely. “As the primary season has shown us, the Republicans have not moved on from Trump—yet the Twenty-second Amendment works to constrain their enthusiasm by prohibiting them from rewarding Trump with re-election four years from now,” he wrote, perhaps getting ahead of himself a bit. I do not doubt that Trump would run for a third term if he could. He has addressed the possibility before, suggesting in 2020 that he should get to run for one “because they spied on my campaign,” referring to his political opponents. And at a closed-door fundraiser in 2018, Trump also favorably referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping for eliminating the two-term limit in that country. “He’s now president for life, president for life, and he’s great,” he reportedly told his supporters. “And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”

Maybe Trump's campaign slogan for 2028 should be: Make America Belarus. The dictator of Belarus, a Putin satellite, has been using rigged elections to remain in power since 1994.

Never mind the US Constitution. Trump's trained seals on the US Supreme Court will gladly find some loophole allowing him to be president in perpetuity.

If somebody says he wants to be a dictator, believe him – especially if he's already a big fanboy of despots like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Xi Jinping.

It's almost always easier to prevent a dictator from taking power than it is to get rid of one who is already in power.

[rejectingrepublicans]

The dementia patient who was fart sleeping in court wants to be president at 86.

[thingstrumperssay]

Tennessee Republican proposes amendment to allow Trump to serve third term

Republicans: "You can't do anything about the second amendment! It's an amendment!"

Also republicans: "Of course we can change the 22nd amendment to the constitution! That's what an amendment is!"

Edit: I forgot to mention that this was written in a way to make sure that Obama can't run again because he got two consecutive terms.

[deadpresidents]

What if the only hope I’m clinging to right now is that he can’t ever run again after this term? Is that hope even safe? Could he change everything to make himself president for the rest of his life?

Part of me hopes that they do amend the Constitution to eliminate Presidential term limits and then Barack Obama (who is 15 years younger than Trump, by the way) comes back and beats the brakes off of him in 2028.

I don't think that there is enough support to actually eliminate term limits, though. It's really difficult to amend the Constitution and that's what would have to happen. Despite the subservient personality cult that has been installed in Congress to help further the aims of the MAGA movement, I don't see a realistic path to repeal or change the 22nd Amendment.

Could he simply ignore the law and try to continue to hold on to power? Well, considering what we've seen from him in the past and already in this second term I can't see how we can rule anything out. That's what happens when a country elects unfit and untrustworthy leaders who openly speak of absolute power and admire authoritarianism. Because ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. And, this time, there are NO guardrails, NO "adults in the room", NO General Milley or Rex Tillerson or John Kelly or General Mattis, or...fuck...even a John Bolton or William Barr. This time around, Trump has an entire Executive Branch full of people fully invested in letting him do what he wants. He also has a Legislative majority willing to support and amplify those urges, and a Judiciary that seems uninterested in challenging him. No matter how hard you search through the federal government, you will not be able to find a check or balance anywhere in the District of Columbia right now.

Trump is shaping the federal government to serve him. You know, it's almost like there was a playbook that the MAGA movement is working from, as if they planned out what they would do if they took back power in 2025 and are using it as a blueprint for systematically dismantling the federal government and rolling back protections for people who don't look like them.

[themisinformer]

Trump Scribbles Out Part of Constitution That Says He Can Only Serve Two Terms With Red Crayon

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Putting an end to his so called “constitutional limits” once and for all, President Donald Trump has decided to take matters into his own hands by axing his term limits as president by simply scribbling out that part of the constitution with a red Crayola crayon he had in his desk.

“They said I couldn’t seek a third term because of some phony piece of paper from hundreds of years ago,” Trump told reporters. “Welp, that piece of paper is gone now. Totally erased. No one can stop me!” Trump then pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from his suit showing off what was once the 22nd Amendment, that had since been totally scribbled on and had, “NOPE! FAKE NEWS!!!” written over it in crayon.

With term limits officially removed from the constitution, Trump has announced his intention to seek a third presidential term in 2028, reiterating that no one can stop him now that term limits are a thing of the past.

“Term limits are old news,” Trump concluded. “I’m going to run for a third term, then a fourth term, and then a fifth term, and no radical leftist will be able to stop me. Bow down to your new King, America!”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kristen Welker and Megan Lebowitz at NBC News:

WASHINGTON — 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. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” “I’m focused on the current,” Trump added, in some of his most extensive comments to date about serving a third term. When asked whether he wanted another term, the president responded, “I like working.” “I’m not joking,” Trump said, when asked to clarify. “But I’m not — it is far too early to think about it.” When asked whether he has been presented with plans to allow him to seek a third term, Trump said, “There are methods which you could do it.” 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.” Amending the Constitution to abolish the two-term limit would be exceedingly difficult, requiring either a two-thirds vote of Congress or two-thirds of the states agreeing to call a constitutional convention to propose changes. Either route would then require ratification from three-quarters of the states.

Habitual Constitution urinator Trump told NBC News this morning via phone call that he isn’t ruling out seeking an illegal third term in office.

[mudwerks]

(via Trump Asked For The Real Declaration of Independence Be Moved Into His Office, 'Alarming' Aides: Report)

please don’t let him sharpie out the 22nd amendment

[akiizayoi4869]

This is honestly funny to me. Aside from the fact that this proves these dumb fucks have no clue how the constitution works, the way how this is worded shows you how terrified they are of the former presidents running against Donald Trump for a third term, particularly Barack Obama. It's almost as if they know that Trump won't be able to beat him.

[tanisha-r0]

if the 22nd amendment is successfully altered and we have to deal with these atrocities for the next EIGHT YEARS, consider the noose already tied around my neck.

[yrsofafterglow]

1461 days until Trump is out of office, forever

[larrywilmore]

Concerns about the next 4 years

Overturning the 22nd amendment,  revenge, congressional complicity...S.E. Cupp and I talk about what worries us most in the upcoming administration and our hope that the checks already in place hold.

Listen to our full conversation

[hansilw]

My latest NPR story: The 22nd Amendment bans a person from being elected U.S. president more than twice. But some legal experts point to plausible strategies that President Trump could try to make end runs around the Constitution's presidential term limits

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paul Gowder at The UnPopulist:

In the early days of Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House, presidential norms, congressional statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and even clear constitutional constraints have been summarily brushed aside as mere inconveniences. In keeping with the presidential Caesarism he has thus far exhibited—and many of his supporters have enthusiastically cheered on—it would not be shocking to see Trump attempt to stay in office for a third term. In fact, longtime Trump whisperer Steve Bannon openly floated this idea at CPAC, and Trump himself followed suit more than once. House Republican Committee Chair Kevin Hern tried to dismiss Trump’s comments, claiming, “He understands the Constitution. ... [H]e knows the Democrats are going to go crazy. He loves messing with them, and they’re so easy to get riled up, so there’s no way he thinks he’s going to have a third term.” But Trump made his apologists look like fools when he subsequently expressed to NBC News that he is “not joking” about seeking a third term. It’s time to take this threat seriously. I’ll give you the bad news first: While most of us are aware that the Constitution prohibits a president from serving more than two terms, some legal scholars have argued that there is a loophole that Trump, despite being twice-elected, could exploit. Unlike his plainly unconstitutional attempt to abolish birthright citizenship for everyone except the children of citizens and green card holders, the third-term question has been a live and serious debate within legal circles for years prior to Trump’s ascent. Now for the good news: The best reading of the Constitution really does rule out a third Trump term. In the end, even the sophisticated legal arguments for allowing a third presidential term depend on exploiting loopholes in a document that isn’t written to exhaustively anticipate and exclude them and therefore, as Chief Justice John Marshall warned us, end up undermining the very foundations of our Republic. Ordinarily, this is the point where I would bring in relevant case law, or precedents of various kinds, to help elucidate the constitutional dispute. But since the ratification of the 22nd Amendment—the term-limit amendment enacted after Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the only president to serve more than two terms—the two-term norm has been so firmly observed and accepted that the courts have not had to formally adjudicate it—until now, that is, when a norm-buster like Trump arrived on the scene and made it a live issue for the first time.

What’s the (Alleged) Loophole?

The basic idea is this: the 22nd Amendment contains two prohibitions:

A person may not be elected to the presidency more than twice.

A person who has served more than two years of someone else’s term (e.g., by being vice president when the president dies, resigns, or is removed) may not be elected to the presidency more than once.

Now consider the following three potential events in a politician’s career: (a) get elected vice president; (b) as vice president, take office upon the resignation of the president early in his or her term; (c) get elected as president. On its face, the 22nd Amendment rules out the sequence a-b-c-c. But the Amendment does not (supposedly) rule out the sequence c-c-a-b. It has an apparent ordering: no getting elected twice after you’ve taken over for someone else’s presidency (for 2+ years). It doesn’t say: no taking over for someone else’s presidency after getting elected twice. Thus, the loophole: in 2028, JD Vance (or whoever) successfully runs for president with Donald Trump as vice president. On Jan. 20, 2029, Vance’s first inaugural address is two words: “I resign.” Donald Trump becomes president by the ordinary rules of succession just like if he’d gotten elected to a third term. Checkmate, libs!

You might recall that the 12th Amendment says that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice president of the United States.” But, as Cornell Law professor Michael Dorf argues, “a person who has twice before been elected president is not ineligible to the office of president; such a person is merely ineligible to be elected to the office of president. And a vice president who takes office as president by operation of Section 1 of the 25th Amendment is not elected president.” While Dorf is no advocate of this scheme, he is right to draw our attention to the worrying textual difference between the word “eligible” in the 12th Amendment and the word “elected” in the 22nd.

[...]

Vice Signalling

The simple fact is that the Constitution’s framers were not at their best when it came to specifying the role of the vice president and with the issue of presidential succession. How can we tell? So far it’s taken three amendments—the 12th, 22nd, and 25th—to clean up the mess. The 12th corrected the ridiculous situation where the president and vice president could be political opponents, and the 25th corrected the ridiculous situation where the president could become temporarily incapacitated without any clear authority for the vice president to step into the role. But there remain obvious drafting errors plaguing the vice presidency. Here’s another instance: Ordinarily the vice president, as president of the Senate, presides over all of the Senate’s business. This includes impeachment trials. The Constitution specifically provides that when the president is tried, the Chief Justice presides. That’s obvious good sense: We don’t want the vice president presiding over the president’s trial since the incentives are all wrong (oddly, in both directions—a loyal vice president would want to protect the boss, while an ambitious one would want to get rid of him or her and take the job). But the Constitution says nothing about who presides over an impeachment trial for a vice president. Are we to suppose that the vice president gets to preside over his or her own trial? Have we found another loophole? Or are we willing to accept the obviously correct conclusion that the Constitution’s drafters did not intend for the sitting vice president to conduct his or her own impeachment trial? In an ideal world, we’d have another constitutional amendment fixing the aforementioned glitches in the specifications for the vice presidency. In our actual world, we don’t need to read it to create a bunch of surprise loopholes in otherwise clear constitutional rules. That includes the term limits on the presidency. If you’re still tempted to accept the loophole after this argument, then please forward this article to Barack Obama and let him know that I’ll be happy to have him as my running mate in 2028.

Trump can try for his third term all he wants, but he cannot legally be President for a 3rd term.

See Also:

Public Notice: Trump’s third term threats are not a distraction

[master-jarrus]

I don't care if you think this won't pass it is fucking serious that they are even trying

More than two terms will break down the checks and balances

No one and I mean no one, red, blue, green, etc, should not have more than two terms

I don't give a fuck if they didn't have their term consecutively either. This will legitimately break down our checks and balances

[banjo15]

I love the 19th and 22nd amendment :3

[ask-evil-x]

Me and my friends are legit fucked, the orange man is now in charge of the country we live in and my friend who did research says that orange man is a disgusting person and the tumblr people have informed me via their posts that America may very well have a state similar to a that of a three colored one years and years ago.

the-

the orange man-

???

orange anon? from other blogs?