Skip to content
Categories:

Repealing the 22nd Amendment

Post date:
Author:

I know this probably isn’t going anywhere, but it’s good to see the discussion unfold anyway.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) introduced bipartisan legislation today to repeal the 22nd amendment, which states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Representatives Berman (D-CA), Pallone (D-NJ), Sabo (D-MN) and Sensenbrenner (R-WI) joined Hoyer in sponsoring the resolution. Representative Hoyer released the following statement regarding the resolution:

“I introduced today a joint resolution to repeal outright the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. The 22nd Amendment requires that no person who has served two terms, or who has served more than two years of another President’s term and their own elected term, be permitted to serve another term of office.

“The time has come to repeal the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, and not because of partisan politics. While I am not a supporter of the current President, I feel there are good public policy reasons for a repeal of this amendment. Under the Constitution as altered by the 22nd Amendment, this must be President George W. Bush’s last term even if the American people should want him to continue in office. This is an undemocratic result.

“Under the resolution I offer today, President Bush would not be eligible to run for a third term. However, the American people would have restored to themselves and future generations an essential democratic privilege to elect who they choose in the future.”

This same bi-partisan group seems to unveil this proposal in every Congress, and it never goes anywhere, but I nevertheless like their idea and their tenacity.

There’s no reason to deny voters’ rights in this area. We can re-elect members of Congress to our hearts’ content, we can even re-elect the same person to be vice president indefinitely. Yet voters are denied the chance to elect someone to the presidency more than twice. This doesn’t do anyone any favors, especially second-term presidents who find their “lame-duck” status makes them far less effective.

I’m not optimistic about this proposal going anywhere, but it’s encouraging to see it in play again.