Momentum is building for a national referendum on limiting federal government power through a convention of states.
A group called Convention of States is leading a grassroots movement by lobbying state legislatures to pass resolutions utilizing the states' right under Article V of the Constitution for proposing amendments.
Article V established two methods for proposing amendments to the Constitution. The first is through a two-thirds vote in each the House and Senate, which has been the only method used in the nation's history, followed by ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures.
The second provides that Congress shall call a convention upon the request of two-thirds of state legislatures, which now would be 34. Any amendments proposed during that convention of states would still require three-fourths of the states, or 38, to approve them.
Conservative radio and TV political commentator Mark Levin called the initiative "the most crucial movement in America, bar none!"
Rick Santorum, a senior political analyst at Newsmax, former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, and former presidential candidate, is a COS adviser. Last week, he testified in front of the New Hampshire House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee.
"Washington is on a crash course, whether it's financially, whether it's the tyranny we're seeing, candidly, from both parties when it comes to the president and how they wield their pens and tell you how they're going to change things and do things presidents never thought heretofore they could do," Santorum said, according to WMUR-TV.
Santorum told Newsmax on Thursday that President Donald Trump's victory and the GOP's takeover of Congress revealed that Americans are ready for measures to limit the power in Washington, D.C.
"There's now a recognition that government has gotten out of control," said Santorum, adding after the Biden administrations' focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and government excess there is a push for "moving power out of Washington and getting it back to the states."
COS's website shows that 19 states, all with Republican-controlled legislatures, have passed resolutions calling for a convention of states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Resolutions have passed the Senate in South Dakota and Wyoming, and Santorum said, "there's actions going in five or six states right now."
"We have a chance of passing Wyoming," he said, adding he believes "we can make up the difference" in the South Dakota House to get the resolution passed there.
COS said it has held what it calls "Capitol Surge Days," where caravans of its activists urge their state lawmakers to sponsor or pledge their vote in support of a resolution for a convention of states, in Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming. The group said "Capitol Surge Days" are planned for 17 more states.
Santorum said the group has yet to ask President Donald Trump for his endorsement, but several members of his administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump's pick to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, are backing the initiative.
Santorum said he believes the group's goals of using federalism and limiting the powers of the federal government as reasons for a convention of states will resonate more with Democrat-led states that might fear broader changes through such action.
"We're looking at guardrails," he said. "That's one of the things I think we're trying to sell when talking about a convention of states.
"Nothing left or right crazy is going to be ratified. The things that pass and last are things the public wants, things that are wildly popular."
He noted that amendments added to the Constitution were broadly embraced by Americans. Even though he said he would like to see the 16th and 17th amendments repealed, which cover Congress levying income taxes and the direct elections of U.S. senators, respectively, "I could think of 17 Democrat states" that would vote against ratification of such a proposal.
"It would be a waste of time to spend a lot of time and energy on something that won't get passed," he said.