WASHINGTON — Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., plans to file a resolution in the House on Thursday that would express support for the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which sets the term limits for the president of the United States.
Term limits are already enshrined in the Constitution in the 22nd Amendment, so the resolution would have little tangible effect and it’s unclear if it will receive a vote on the House floor, which is controlled by Republicans. However, he could potentially introduce it as a privileged resolution to force Republicans to vote on the matter.
The resolution, obtained by NBC News on Wednesday, reaffirms that the 22nd Amendment “applies to two terms in the aggregate as President of the United States” and reaffirms that it “applies to President-elect Trump.” The resolution lists a number of instances in which Trump has joked or floated the idea of serving longer than two terms in the White House or being a dictator.
The resolution was first reported by The New York Times.
At the House Republican Conference meeting on Wednesday, as the press was being led out of the room, Trump, 78, said, “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we’ve got to figure something else.’”
His comment was met with some chuckles throughout the room and he noted, “The people leaving now in the back of the [room] will write that I said that.”
When Trump is sworn in to office in January, he will not be eligible for another term under the limits that have existed for more than 70 years.
The 22nd Amendment provides that, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice” and also says that vice presidents who eventually become president can be elected to two terms if they have served less than two years of their predecessor’s term, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Congress proposed the 22nd Amendment in 1947, when Harry Truman was president, after Franklin D. Roosevelt served for four consecutive terms until he died in 1945. The amendment was formally ratified in 1951 after the states completed the ratification process.
In order to amend the Constitution and modify term limits for president, both the House and Senate would need to approve amendment language by a two-thirds vote. Then it must be ratified by three-quarters of the states, or 38 states. States also have the option of petitioning Congress to call a constitutional convention, but two-thirds of states have to agree, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Trump won 34 states in this year’s election.
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