From the left, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Dusty Johnson, RS.D., speak in the chamber of the U.S. Capitol before Johnson to win the presidency for the 119th Congress on Friday, January 3, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
A Republican member of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution Thursday to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow President Donald Trump — and any 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 the collapse of our nation and restoring America to greatness, and he should be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal,” said Rep. Andy Ogles, the Tennessee lawmaker who introduced the resolution.
“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” Ogles said in a statement.
“He is committed to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him,” said Ogles, a hardline conservative who is serving his second term in the House of Representatives.
“I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limits imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” he added.
Ogle’s move came three days after Trump was sworn in for a second, non-consecutive term — becoming only the second US president to accomplish that feat.
And the resolution comes two months after Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, introduced a House resolution that “reaffirms that the Twenty-Second Amendment applies to two total terms as President of the United States” and that the amendment applies to Trump 78 years old.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resolution.
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states in part, “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.”
Ogle’s resolution seeks to revise this to read, “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than three times . . .”
The original amendment also states that, “No person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term in which another person has been elected President, shall be elected to the office of President again more than once.”
In his statement Thursday, Ogles said the resolution he was introducing “would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring we can support the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment was authored to prevent a repeat of the unprecedented election of President Franklin Roosevelt to four terms in office.
To this day, Roosevelt is the only president ever to be 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 hinted at his willingness to serve more than two terms in office.
“I doubt I’ll run again unless you say, ‘He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out,'” Trump reportedly told House Republicans during a private meeting in November, shortly after defeating former Democrat . Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaking to members of the National Rifle Association in May, Trump said: “I don’t know, are we going to be considered for three terms or two terms? Do we have three mandates or two mandates if we win?”
Trump’s bid for a third term comes as no surprise to some who know him.
Former Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera, who was friendly 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 future reference: President Trump & Co. will soon start talking about revoking/amending the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two four-year terms,” Rivera wrote on X.
Other ways to stay in power
Changing the Constitution isn’t the only way Trump can stay in power after his current term ends.
“Although the 22nd Amendment bars Trump from being re-elected president, it does not bar him from serving as president beyond January 20, 2029,” wrote Philip Klinkner, professor of government at Hamilton College, in a recent article on The Conversation .
“The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment prohibits someone from being ‘elected’ more than twice,” Klinker wrote. “It says nothing about someone becoming president in any other way than being elected to the office.”
Klinker wrote that a hypothetical scenario would be Trump running for vice president in 2028 and Vice President JD Vance running at the top of the ticket for president.
“If elected, Vance could resign, making Trump president again,” Klinker wrote. “But Vance wouldn’t even have to resign in order for a Vice President Trump to exercise the powers of the presidency.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution states that if a president declares that “he is unable to perform the powers and duties of the office … such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.” “
Another scenario Klinker envisioned is Trump encouraging a family member to run for and win the White House. Once elected, they would serve as little more than a figurehead president while Trump made key decisions.