Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., proposed a constitutional amendment this week that would pave the way for President Donald Trump to serve a third White House term.
“President Trump’s decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years,” Ogles said in a statement on Thursday. “He has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.”
According to the text, Ogles’ amendment states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, 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 twice.”
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution prohibits U.S. presidents from serving more than two terms in office.
In November, Trump joked about the prospect of a third term to House Republicans during a meeting of the conference in Washington, D.C., prior to leadership elections.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump said a week after his victory in the 2024 presidential election. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”
Following the meeting, GOP lawmakers told reporters that Trump was not being serious and that they laughed at his humor.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said Trump's remark was “clearly a joke.”
“I leaned over to somebody beside me, [Arizona Rep.] Andy Biggs, and I said, ‘That’ll be the headlines tomorrow: Trump trying to thwart the Constitution,’ which — there’s nothing further from the truth,” Burchett said at the time.
In an interview with Time magazine in April, Trump said he would not consider running for a third term as president if he won the 2024 election.
“I wouldn’t be in favor of a challenge,” he said then. “Not for me. I wouldn’t be in favor of it at all. I intend to serve four years and do a great job. And I want to bring our country back. I want to put it back on the right track.”