A Democratic member of the House introduced Constitutional amendments Thursday that would eliminate the Electoral College and limit presidential powers concerning pardons.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., submitted the measures hours after the new Congress was installed. One of them would erase the Electoral College, which is outlined in Article II of the Constitution.
The other measure would prevent a president from issuing a pardon to himself and members of his or her family, administration, and campaign staff.
"In two presidential elections since 2000, including the most recent one in which Hillary Clinton won 2.8 million more votes than her opponent, the winner of the popular vote did not win the election because of the distorting effect of the outdated Electoral College," Cohen said in a statement.
"Americans expect and deserve the winner of the popular vote to win office. More than a century ago, we amended our Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. senators. It is past time to directly elect our president and vice president."
Five U.S. presidents — John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888), George W. Bush (2000), and Donald Trump (2016) lost the popular vote in their respective elections but won via the Electoral College.