One of President-elect Donald Trump’ biggest issues in transitioning back to the White House is that he does as so as only the second president in history to serve nonconsecutive terms and thus finds himself lame-ducked in a very real sense on his way up the driveway. To be sure, he is riding a wave of unexpected political strength from the election and most Republicans live in radical terror of infuriating him. We have yet to see an “Act 2.0” from a Republican “Post-Trump Battle” – Liz Cheney is more a Democrat today than Republican. But that power could be even more absolute if it could extend into four to six year terms within the election-frame of more Senators – if Trump had another term. Or even just the possibility of another term. So, yes – to that end they are now floating the possibility. This was always going to happen but it didn’t need to happen this way.
Steven Bannon is just the latest and least embarrassed with clarity in the demand that Donald Trump be able to run again in 2028. He did so at the Young Republicans of New York City Gala last night and he didn’t exactly have any new or exciting material, just the floater:
“Since it doesn’t actually say consecutive, I don’t know, maybe we do it again in ’28?” Bannon said, to cheers from the crowd. “Are you guys down for that?! Trump ’28! Come on, man! “In four years, perhaps somebody else is gonna have to be worrying about that.
🚨 JUST IN: Steve Bannon says Trump should run again in 2028, as his terms were not consecutive
And the crowd at @NYYRC went WILD!
According to Mike Davis (@mrddmia), this IS a possibility, per Bannon
Should Trump run again in 2028??! 😏 pic.twitter.com/d1EV5IpRF8
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 16, 2024
Before anyone is persuaded by Bannon’s “Because it doesn’t actually say consecutive… ” if you read the below, the fact that consecutive is left out, it makes it all that much clearer than twice means “Two” terms – total:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
If they really do want to an end-run around the Constitution, why don’t they just say “It only says ‘elected twice’ it doesn’t mean we can’t instill him for a longer term or for him to serve longer than eight years… ” (Of course, that violates other portions of the Constitution).
If the goal is to have Trump serve a third term, they could go into office talking about wanting to amend the Constitution. At least, in that respect, they would still be honoring the primacy of the very document – ideals – that brought him to office. By floating a third term without talking about amending the Constitution, they do render the Constitution to becoming a mere document, an ideal, one that the commitment to which has been abandoned.
Thankfully, we likely don’t have to worry that much about whether Donald Trump or the Republicans want to instill a post-constitutional America – at least on this issue – because due to age concerns alone, one would think that Trump would want to spend the last two years of his term playing kingmaker in a way that extends his power by putting his people in place… Much more so than fighting for two or four more years with himself at the helm.
But you can expect to hear talk about Trump staying in office post-2028 if for not greater purpose than to quell some of the quack in that duck – the only aspect of this 2024 election and second term that even somewhat saps at his power as he rides back into Washington. Even the desire to have him serve another term is enough to push back on any waning amount. Get used to it. Don’t accept it. And no – it is not normal.
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Hilarious that Bannon and all actually believe Trump will live forever! I guess they are working on their brilliant legal theories that death is no bar to being the President!
Great. “Weekend at Bernie’s: The White House Edition.”
Well, there’s no way they can possibly amend the Constitution to overturn the 22nd Amendment in time. Ironically, the 22nd was passed by a REPUBLICAN Congress because of FDR’s unprecedented 4 elected terms. And, even then, it took nearly 4 years to make it into the Constitution (passed by Congress at the end of March of 1947 and approved by the 36th state at the end of February of 1951).
Then, you’ve got the full process to go through. A proposed amendment must be passed by both the House and Senate with a TWO-THIRDS vote–meaning 290 members of the House and 67 members of the Senate; the GOP does NOT have anywhere near that much support and I cannot see a single Democrat voting to support repealing the 22nd–at least, not if it might allow Trump to stay in the White House. Then, it requires the approval of 3/4 of the states–meaning 38 states; I cannot see California, New York, Illinois, Hawai’i or any state with a Democratic-controlled legislature choosing to ratify.
It might depend on whether he can get away with ignoring the 14th Amendment on birthright.
If he can do that with the acquiescence of his tame SCOTUS then surely all the other amendments are up for grabs. I’m sure Alito et al would be able to dredge up some 15th century legal ‘reasoning’ for it.
Remember they conjured up ‘Presidential Legal Immunity’ out of thin air.
Hey let’s look at the glass as half full…the emperor’s mouthpiece has stated we will survive for four years, and possibly eight if we play along. Whew!
I understand why all of you seem to think that the US Constitution prohibits anybody from serving as president for more than two terms. I shared that belief until I read a recent online essay by Bill Blum at laprogressive.com. He pointed out that we were all misreading the 22nd Amendment. The important word in it is “elected.” It doesn’t refer to serving as president; it refers to being elected president.
Please read Blum’s full explanation at the link below. But, if you don’t have time, here is my synopsis.
Trump has multiple paths to serving as president for an indefinite number of terms. Reread the 22nd Amendment. It does not limit people to serving two terms as president; it limits people to being elected president twice, or once if the person served part of a term to which somebody else was elected. So how could Trump serve without being elected?
In the first scenario, the Republican Party could nominate figureheads to run for president and vice president in 2028 who would agree to resign as soon as they were inaugurated in 2029. The House of Representatives could elect Trump in January 2029 to be the speaker of the House; as has already been publicized, the speaker is not required to be a member of the House. Speaker Trump would be next in line for the presidency. President Trump would then nominate somebody for vice president. The nominee would have to receive a majority vote in both the Senate and House. Repeat in 2032-33.
In the second scenario, the Republican Party could nominate a complicit John Doe as president and Trump as vice president in 2028. Doe would resign after being sworn in. Trump would then succeed to the presidency. In 2032, the Republicans could again nominate Trump as vice president to run with whoever would be willing to step aside after the inauguration. Repeat in 2036.
To be clear, Trump cannot return to the presidency in either of these ways without unprecedented Republican cooperation. Somebody might file a claim challenging the constitutionality of these procedures, but SCOTUS can’t be assumed to oppose these procedures. In any case, Bill Blum cites two presidents who defied the Supreme Court. Does anyone doubt that Trump would do so?