U.S. President Donald Trump May Face Long Odds in Bid for Third Term
President Donald Trump’s chances of being elected to a third term in the White House are extremely low, according to a Harvard Law School professor. The proposal, introduced by Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, would allow presidents to be elected for a third term only if their first two terms were nonconsecutive.
Professor Stephen Sachs, the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law, said that the math and politics of the proposal are almost certain to doom it. He noted that it would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate, as well as ratification by three-fourths of the states.
Sachs also pointed out that the proposal has “attracted a great deal more attention than is warranted by its chances of passage,” and that the appetite in Congress or the states for an amendment that would allow a third elected term for presidents who already had two consecutive terms is non-existent.
The only currently living president to have been elected to nonconsecutive terms, Trump has hinted about potentially seeking a third term. However, the White House has not responded to queries about whether Trump supports Ogles’ amendment.
The last time the Constitution was amended was in 1992, when the 27th Amendment was ratified. The 26th Amendment, which gave 18-year-olds the right to vote, was ratified in 1971.
