Look for Trump & Congressional cohorts to remove impediment to a third term....

[Honeycombe8]

I've seen two references, now, to a possible removal of the impediment to a Presidential third term by Trump (& cohorts). And Trump himself recently said something like he was planning on the 7 years remaining, and then who knows.

I would not be surprised to find there's an actual plan for this, how to do it. They've already got their 2020 campaign started.

Just chew on that for a while. As if we needed another reason for it being critical to get him out of the White House.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Suits me. I wouldn't mind having Obama back for a third. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. It would take a constitutional amendment.

That's a very, very slow process and it seldom happens.

[Honeycombe8]

4. They have Congress & the S.Ct. right now. They've got it....

if they retain power. But if they need supermajority in Congress, that will be a problem for them.

Russia is still in our govt. We have been infiltrated. So these are not normal times.

They certainly got the votes together to pass the law in the first place, to prevent another FDR from happening.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. You need states to agree, too.

Article V of the Constitution explains how it's done. While there are two ways, only one has ever been used: All 27 existing amendments have been ratified only after two-thirds of the House and Senate approved of the proposal and then three-fourths of the states had to affirm it.

The other method of passing an amendment requires a Constitutional Convention to be called by two-thirds of the legislatures of the states. That Convention can propose as many amendments as it deems necessary. Those amendments must be approved by three-fourths of the states.

Three-fourths of the states are not going to vote to change the constitution just so Trump can have a third term.

[Stallion]

7. Not Even Close

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.[3]

[Honeycombe8]

12. Yes. That's what the Republicans did, the last time they wanted to change terms.

Most states are Republican (more so than in 1951), so that's not the biggest hindrance. It's the Senators and Reps. Need a supermajority.

Don't forget that some Democrats want the amendment repealed.

They were able to do it before. It's actually do-able, with lots of campaigning and a bit of luck. Not likely, but do-able.

"ever since 1985, when Ronald Reagan was serving in his second term as president, there have been repeated attempts to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution, which limits each president to two terms."[10] In early 1989, during an exit interview with Tom Brokaw of NBC, President Reagan stated his intention to fight for the amendment's repeal.[11] However, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, his post-presidential ambitions had to be scrapped.

In addition, several congressmen, including Democrats Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. José E. Serrano,[12] Rep. Howard Berman, and Sen. Harry Reid,[13] and Republicans Rep. Guy Vander Jagt,[14] Rep. David Dreier[15] and Sen. Mitch McConnell[16] have introduced legislation to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, but each resolution died before making it out of its respective committee. Other alterations have been proposed, including replacing the absolute two term limit with a limit of no more than two consecutive terms and giving Congress the power to grant an exemption to a current or former president by way of a supermajority vote in both houses.

On January 4, 2013, Rep. José E. Serrano again introduced a resolution proposing an Amendment to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, as he had done every two years since 1997; he did not do so during the 114th Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Attempts_at_repeal

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Then we can run Obama again.

[Honeycombe8]

5. I doubt he, or Michelle, would want to. Esp. Michelle.

It's very stressful, and you can't have much of a personal life.

[roamer65]

11. Yes, we can!!

[GulfCoast66]

8. Oh please...

These hair on fire posts, especially OPs just make us look silly.

No one is amending the Constitution for President Shit for Brains.

Hell, Kaisch is rumbling about a primary challenge. Smart of him. He would lose but would exit the wreckage of the republicans party as the one responsible guy left standing.

Cause this ain’t ending well for the republicans. Unfortunately it is not ending well for the Nation either.

[Honeycombe8]

10. I would think the same way, if it were anyone but Trump.

He's a true authoritarian and dislikes (and doesn't understand) why he can't just order laws that he wants and do whatever he wants. He thinks being President is like being the sole ruler.

Coupled with the fact that, unlike any other time in history, a number of Representatives and Senators are fully backing him and some of them ALSO have strong Russian connections, and possibly more involvement.

Whether he'll still be around as President in 2020 remains to be seen. And whether they could get this done remains to be seen. But I have no doubt that it's a discussion on the table.

I didn't think it up out of thin air. I read a reference in a financial article, about why the stock market has been so hot. The man, some CEO, said that just Trump being President was spurring things on, that Wall Street thinks everything will be good for stocks as long as he's President, and that he'll win in 2020 and be President forever. The man was being facetious, but it made me realize that there are some who would go along with that idea. Then Trump seemed to imply that a 2020 win wouldn't end his being President. Then I read something else.

Then China's President, Jinping, just did away with the law that required him to step down. So he'll continue being President as long as he likes, apparently. You and I both know that Trump would have taken notice of that.

The Republicans were the ones who placed the limitation on the Presidency, after FDR's third term, to prevent that from happening again. Don't think they won't consider doing it again, for the opposite reason. It's not LIKELY, I think. But it's possible it could occur, and probable that Trump has brought the matter up.

Obama even referenced that he'd be able to win a third term, if he could run. Which Trump responded to.

[CreekDog]

13. if you're going to make such an outlandish prediction, you really need to have more than this

i mean seriously? they said this about Bush, a small number of crazies even said it about Obama.

yes, Trump is worse than Bush, but that doesn't mean he'll just get to be president for 3 or more terms.

and the amendment is pretty clear about that, so you'd have to have that fall by the wayside too.

here's a tip for you: the more extraordinary the claim, the more extraordinary the evidence is needed to support it.

was your idea extraordinary? yes. was the evidence to support it extraordinary? NO, in fact, there wasn't even minimal evidence. so cut it out, really.

besides, he's almost 72, in 2020, he'll be 74 and in 2024, he'll be 78.

[Honeycombe8]

15. Oh, I didn't realize you weren't aware that this has been a Republican goal for decades.

And this is do-able. I posted a couple of posts to you explaining how business-as-usual the attempt would be. A Republican AND Democratic goal for decades.

I thought you knew. My apologies. Now you know. It's not outlandish. This has been a plan for some time for the Repubs. And some Democrats want it, as well. Most states are Republican, so ratification is not a big hurdle.

It's not important that Trump actually live through a third term. Reagan probably had Alzheimer's in his second term.

I don't say it's likely. It probably isn't. But based on things I read, I think it's likely that this is being bandied about.

And yes...Obama commented end of 2016 that he thought he'd be able to win, if he could run again. This is not something new or outlandish to people involved in politics.

Sorry...I thought you knew about these things. Well, now you know. It's okay. We can't all know everything.

P.S. Reagan was 78 at end of his 2nd term; it's possible that he had planned to run again, but got Alzheimer's.

[Honeycombe8]

14. This has been a Republican goal for decades.

In early 1989, during an exit interview with Tom Brokaw of NBC, President Reagan stated his intention to fight for the amendment's repeal.[11] However, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, his post-presidential ambitions had to be scrapped.

Several congressmen, including Democrats Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. José E. Serrano,[12] Rep. Howard Berman, and Sen. Harry Reid,[13] and Republicans Rep. Guy Vander Jagt,[14] Rep. David Dreier[15] and Sen. Mitch McConnell[16] have introduced legislation to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, but each resolution died before making it out of its respective committee. Other alterations have been proposed, including replacing the absolute two term limit with a limit of no more than two consecutive terms and giving Congress the power to grant an exemption to a current or former president by way of a supermajority vote in both houses.

On January 4, 2013, Rep. José E. Serrano again introduced a resolution proposing an Amendment to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, as he had done every two years since 1997; he did not do so during the 114th Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

This is reality. And do-able, if the stars line up. It's more likely than not that Trump or someone in the GOP has brought this up, esp since it's a running goal for them.

[GulfCoast66]

16. No. Its not a republican goal. Nor Democratic one

A few outliers pandering to a popular departing president does not make it a goal of the party.

But if believing it is a goal makes you feel good or whatever, knock yourself out.

But posting this kind of hyperbole on DU will not be we received by all.

[Honeycombe8]

17. Interesting that you regard Harry Reid and Barney Frank as "outliers."

Looks like you've just got it in your head that you want to win some argument that you imagine is going on here.

There is no argument. You want to pick a fight over something, but there's nothing to fight over.

I presented some objective evidence and gave my opinion. You disagree. End of story. Your purpose here is not to pick a fight over someone's post that is perfectly legitimate and continue to harass over it...even when you haven't bothered to read my posts, clearly (I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you're not so uninformed as to really consider Harry Reid and Barney Frank as outliers).

There are now several other posts like mine. This is not fiction. If you don't care about it, move on. Your job here is not start fights with other posters. Or is it?

I know it's embarrassing to start a fight and then realize you were mistaken. I've been there. Best just not to respond, or better, to respond and say "Oops. I didn't know that. Never mind." Takes a big person to do that. At least now there are several posts like mine, for you to fight with those OPs about.

[Buns_of_Fire]

9. Why stop at three terms? Try to appoint him president for life!

Do you, Trump Don-Uld, accept your title as Supreme and Infallible Emperor-God, Arbiter of all Truths, Handsomest of the Handsome, Bravest of the Brave, Sexiest of the Sexy, Smartest of the Smart, Defiler of all Livestock, and Keeper of the Extra-Crispy until death we do part and your preordained successor Trump Bea-Vis assumes your position?

Depends. What's in it for me?

[Wounded Bear]

18. With any luck, and with some hard work....

he won't make two.

[Honeycombe8]

20. I hope he doesn't make it for the full year this year. nt

[Weed Man]

19. Gotta pass an Amendment to do that.

Never gonna happen when Trump is a dick.