Joseph Zambon
President-elect Trump is not exactly known for following the rules. He even admitted it was a “mistake” to leave the White House after losing the 2020 election. Now that he’s about to return to the Oval Office, he won’t pack his bags again, certainly not after another four-year term.
The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment says otherwise: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice…” But when has a little thing like the law stopped Trump—or his loyal crew—from pushing their agenda?
Two more terms, eight years, would be enough to entrench the far-right agenda for decades. How can Trump get a third term? And how can Elon Musk become president even though he wasn’t born in the U.S.?
The 22nd Amendment
The 22nd Amendment was enacted in 1951 after Franklin Roosevelt’s four-term presidency. Republicans hated the idea of a Democrat serving four terms—16 years—as president and swore it would never happen again.
But times change. Fast-forward to today, and they’ve got their guy in the White House, ready to bulldoze his way through their “Project 2025” goals—and maybe even a follow-up “Project 2028”.
But another Trump term won’t cut it for the GOP’s grand plans. They need more time to lock down their far-right agenda. So, the big question is: How does Trump get a third term when the Constitution says no?
The North Carolina Gambit
Here’s a clue: Look at what’s happening in North Carolina. The state’s Republican-controlled legislature recently passed Resolution HJR151, calling for an Article V convention (“Constitutional Convention”) to impose term limits on Congress. Sounds innocent enough, right? Americans generally like the idea of limiting how long politicians can hang around in Washington.
HJR151 reads, “to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives and to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States Senate.”
But there’s more to this than meets the eye.
The Republicans are “selling” a Constitutional Convention as a way to get term limits, which is not an outrageous idea. A Constitutional Convention can be convened if 34 states sign on to the idea. Once the delegates gather, they are not required to follow the original agenda. The Convention could do other things than discuss term limits.
That’s Where Things Get Interesting
A “runaway Constitutional Convention” could start by debating term limits for Congress but end up rewriting the 22nd Amendment—just a little tweak to let Trump run for a third term. It could also eliminate the Constitutional requirement that the President be born in America. That way, Elon Musk could buy his way to the presidency. That would be nicer for him than just being the unofficial co-president he is now.
Nine states, including North Carolina, have already called for a Constitutional Convention. Republicans control state legislatures in 28 states, only six states short of the 34 needed.
Term Limits, Then the Real Agenda
It’s a clever strategy. Selling the idea of term limits is easy. People are tired of career politicians who’ve been in office since the dinosaurs roamed.
Some Representatives and Senators are well into their 80s—Representative Pelosi is in her 80s, and Senator Grassley is in his 90s.
Five percent of Representatives have been there for 30 or more years—more than 15 terms. Some people have been in the Senate for more than 40 years. Patrick Leahy from Vermont served in the Senate for 47 years, and Strom Thurmond served for 48 years.
Republicans pitch term limits as “power to the people,” but what they don’t mention is the possibility of a runaway convention where they’d have the opportunity to change other things they don’t like. While delegates are fiddling with term limits, they might decide, “Hey, let’s give Trump another shot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” Or “Let’s make it possible for Elon Musk to become President.“
They even call it an “Article V Convention” to disguise the fact that it’s really a Constitutional Convention. A “Constitutional Convention” sounds scarier than an “Article V Convention.” No one knows what “Article V Convention” means.
Claudia Tenney’s (R-NY24) Voter Suppression
Republicans aren’t just banking on term limits / rewriting the Constitution to remain in power and push the Project 2025 agenda. They’re also doubling down on voter suppression to stack the deck in their favor. As Senator Lindsay Graham admitted, “If we don’t do something about voting by mail, we’re going to lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country” meaning, “If America were actually democratic, we’d never stand a chance in hell.“
Take Western New York’s Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY24), for example. She’s leading Republican efforts in the House of Representatives at voter suppression under the guise of “election integrity.” As co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, she aims to purge Democratic voters from the rolls, toss out ballots, and gerrymandering congressional districts when possible. Before the November election, North Carolina removed nearly three quarters of a million voters, and you can bet most of them were Democrats
And the GOP is better at gerrymandering than the Democrats. In 2022, New York Democrats pushed an overly aggressive redistricting plan that the courts threw out. This led to NY Dems losing four congressional seats and control of the House of Representatives. Now, based on the increased numbers of blacks and Hispanics in Texas, the Republicans have gerrymandered two new solidly Republican congressional districts. The courts in Alabama overturned that strategy last year; maybe it’ll be overturned in Texas.
Combine voter suppression with the potential to rewrite the Constitution, and you’ve got a recipe for GOP control of the country for decades.
The irony is that the ostensible leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, could care less about the Republican Party. He only cares about himself.
Viktor Orban’s Hungary as the Republican Goal for America
Think this scenario is far-fetched? Look no further than Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. Trump and the Republicans openly admire Orbán for turning his country into a near-autocracy under the guise of democracy, an “illiberal democracy,” as Orban calls it. A Trump-led GOP with an extra presidential term or two could pull off something similar here in the U.S.
The Bottom Line
The push for term limits might sound like a good idea, but it’s worth asking: “What’s the real endgame?” Republicans know they need time to cement their conservative agenda, and a third Trump term from a runaway Constitutional Convention would be helpful. Throw in voter suppression, and the GOP’s playbook starts to look less like democracy and more like the power grab it is.
Postscript
Three days after I posted this, the New York Times published an article about a possible constitutional convention and the threat it poses to the progressive agenda. The article also raised fears of a “runaway” constitutional convention that would “open the door for a free-for-all in which a multitude of other amendments are considered, including some that could restrict abortion access or civil rights.“ Unlike the North Carolina Republican legislature hiding their legislation as calling for an “Article V Convention”, the NY Times calls it what it is, a constitutional convention.