U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 20, 2025.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
A newly introduced constitutional amendment that would allow President Donald Trump to be elected to a third term in the White House faces a very long chance — at best — of being approved, a Harvard Law School professor said Friday.
The professor, Stephen Sachs, said the mathematics and politics of such a proposal are almost sure to doom it.
Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, introduced a House resolution Thursday calling for change to the U.S. Constitution, whose 22nd Amendment currently limits presidents to two elected terms.
Ogles’ proposed Tweak was tailor-made for fellow Republican Trump, as it would allow presidents to be elected to a third term only if their first two terms were non-consecutive.
Trump is the only currently living president to have been elected on non-consecutive terms.
Despite the high constitutional bar to being elected to a third term, Trump has hinted at potentially seeking one.
Trump “has proven to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing the decay of our nation and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to achieve that goal,” said Ogles in a statement Thursday on his amendment.
Sachs, who is Antonin Scalia’s professor of law at Harvard Law, poured cold water on the idea of the Ogles resolution surviving a vote in Congress – far fewer among the states needed to ratify such an amendment .
Stephen Sachs, Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.
Courtesy: Harvard Law School
Sachs told CNBC it was “very difficult” to pass an amendment to the Constitution.
“Under Article V of the Constitution, the House and Senate must approve a proposed amendment by a two-thirds vote,” Sachs noted.
That means 290 “yes” votes out of 435 House members and 67 of 100 senators.
Once approved by Congress, “the proposal must be ratified by state legislatures or state conventions – the choice is up to Congress – in three-quarters of the states,” Sachs added.
That would be the equivalent of winning approval in 38 states.
As difficult as passing a constitutional amendment is, even if it has broad public support, Ogles’ proposal would face an even higher bar.
It’s “incredibly difficult, assuming he would receive no or very few Democratic votes, either in Congress or in state legislatures,” Sachs said.
“As of today, there are only 218 Republican representatives, 53 Republican senators and 28 Republican-controlled state legislatures,” Sachs said.
Ogles’ proposal has “attracted far more attention than is warranted by its chances of passage,” Sachs said.
Asked if he thought there would be any appetite in Congress or the states for an amendment that would allow a third elected term for presidents who already have two consecutive terms, Sachs was blunt: “No.”
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., speaks to reporters before a vote to pass the American Relief Act on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 19, 2024.
Anna Rose Layden | Reuters
The White House did not respond to CNBC’s questions about whether Trump supports the Ogles amendment.
The last time the Constitution was amended was in 1992, when the 27th Amendment was ratified.
This amendment prohibits pay increases for members of Congress from taking effect until after an election for members of the House.
This amendment was proposed in 1789 by the time. James Madison in the First Congress, but lying dormant for two centuries until a student in 1982 realized it was still eligible for ratification.
Before that, the 26th Amendment, which gave 18 years of age the right to vote, was ratified in 1971.
