From left, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., speak. in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol before Johnson won the speakership of the 119th Congress on Friday, January 3, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
A Republican House member introduced a resolution Thursday to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow President Donald Trump — and any other future president — to be elected to a third term in the White House.
Trump “has proven himself to be 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 necessary to achieve that goal.” “said Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who introduced the resolution.
“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with all the resources necessary to correct the disastrous course of the Biden administration,” Ogles said in a statement.
“He is committed to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we as legislatures and states must do everything in our power to support him,” said Ogles, a hardline conservative serving his second term in the House .
“I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise presidential term limits imposed by the 22nd Amendment,” he added.
Ogles' move came three days after Trump was sworn in for a second, non-consecutive term – making him only the second US president to achieve the feat.
And the resolution comes two months after Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, introduced a House resolution that “affirms that the Twenty-second Amendment shall apply to a total of two terms of President of the United States” and that the amendment applies the 78-year-old Trump.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resolution.
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The 22nd Amendment states, among other things: “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.”
The Ogles resolution seeks to amend this to read: “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than three times…”
The original amendment also stated: “No person who has held the office of President or served as President for more than two years shall be elected to the office of President for more than two years while another person has been elected President once.” “
In his statement Thursday, Ogles said the resolution he introduced “would allow President Trump to serve three terms and ensure we can maintain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
The 22nd Amendment, proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, was written to prevent a repeat of the unprecedented four-term election of President Franklin Roosevelt.
To date, Roosevelt remains the only president ever elected to more than two terms. He died in 1945, less than 90 days after his fourth inauguration.
Trump is open to it
Throughout his political career, Trump has repeatedly indicated that he would be willing to serve more than two terms.
“I suspect I won't run again unless you say, 'He's so good, we have to think of something else,'” Trump reportedly told House Republicans during a private meeting in November. shortly after he defeated Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaking to members of the National Rifle Association in May, Trump said: “I don't know if we're going to go for three terms or two terms? Are we three terms or two terms if we win?”
To some people who know him, Trump's openness to a third term comes as no surprise.
Former Fox News journalist Geraldo Rivera, who was friends with Trump for decades in New York, predicted in December that Trump and his allies would soon turn their attention to the 22nd Amendment.
“For the future: President Trump & Co. will soon start talking about repealing/amending the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidential terms to two four-year terms,” Rivera wrote on X.
Other ways to stay in power
Amending the Constitution is not the only way for Trump to remain in power after his current term ends.
“Although the 22nd Amendment prohibits Trump from being elected president again, it does not prohibit him from serving as president beyond January 20, 2029,” Philip Klinkner, a professor of government at Hamilton College, wrote in a recent article in The Conversation.
“The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits someone from being 'elected' more than twice,” Klinker wrote. “It says nothing about someone becoming president other than being elected to the office.”
Klinker wrote that a hypothetical scenario would be that Trump runs for vice president in 2028 and Vice President JD Vance runs as the front-runner for president.
“If Vance is elected, he could resign and make Trump president again,” Klinker wrote. “But Vance wouldn’t even have to resign for a Vice President Trump to wield the power of the presidency.”
The 25th Amendment states that if a president declares that “he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, … such powers and duties shall be exercised by the Vice President as Acting President.”
Another scenario Klinker envisioned would be that Trump would encourage a family member to run for and win the White House. Once elected, they would be little more than presidential figureheads while Trump made the most important decisions.
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