A Tennessee Republican congressman has jumped to an early lead within the race for probably the most Trump-sycophantic member of the U.S. Home of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who earlier within the week launched laws that might give President Donald Trump the authority to annex Greenland, has proposed a invoice that might amend the twenty second Modification, which units the present two-term restrict for presidents.
Ogles’ invoice would enable any president to serve a 3rd time period if their first two phrases have been non-consecutive. In American historical past solely two presidents met that threshold: Donald Trump and Grover Cleveland, who misplaced his re-election bid to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 however received a rematch 4 years later.
“It’s crucial that we offer President Trump with each useful resource essential to appropriate the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” Ogles mentioned in a press release. “He’s devoted to restoring the republic and saving our nation, and we, as legislators and as states, should do every thing in our energy to help him.”
Ogles’ plan prohibits a 3rd time period if the primary two have been consecutive — which means former Presidents Bush, Obama and Clinton couldn’t search a return to workplace. The invoice would additionally deny a 3rd full time period for anybody who has served greater than two years of another person’s time period.
Right here’s the twenty second Modification, in its present state:
“No individual shall be elected to the workplace of the President greater than twice, and no one who has held the workplace of President, or acted as President, for greater than two years of a time period to which another individual was elected President shall be elected to the workplace of the President greater than as soon as.”
Ratified in 1951, the twenty second Modification happened after Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for election in 1932 and received earlier than being reelected 3 times, making him the one president to serve greater than two phrases. And, sure, these have been consecutive phrases.
Now right here’s Ogles’ proposed makeover, which received’t ever occur:
“No individual shall be elected to the workplace of the President greater than 3 times, nor be elected to any extra time period after being elected to 2 consecutive phrases, and no one who has held the workplace of President, or acted as President, for greater than two years of a time period to which another individual was elected President shall be elected to the workplace of the President greater than twice.”
Ogles’ modification would require the approval of two-thirds of each homes of Congress and three-fourths of the states to be ratified, which ought to clarify why our Structure has so few amendments.
As Axios famous in its reporting, the invoice served as a “marker of the depths of fealty the brand new president enjoys inside the Home GOP.”
Ogles is a member of the Home Freedom Caucus, made up of probably the most loyal of Trump loyalists. However there may be one more reason the Tennessee congressman is competing so onerous to be Trump’s greatest lickspittle.
He’s being investigated by the Home Ethics Committee over discrepancies in his marketing campaign funding disclosures — particularly in regard to a $320,000 private mortgage he reported to the Federal Election Fee. Ogles, who final 12 months pushed laws to ship pro-Palestinian pupil protesters to Gaza as “punishment,” later amended disclosures that decreased the non-public mortgage whole to $20,000. He has refused to cooperate with the federal probe.
A overview by the Workplace of Congressional Ethics concluded there was “substantial cause to consider that Rep. Ogles omitted or misrepresented required info” on his monetary disclosures.
Moreover, the OCE discovered “substantial cause to consider that Rep. Ogles’s marketing campaign committee might have accepted extreme contributions that have been reported as private loans and contributions from the candidate.”
“I don’t assume he needs to speak concerning the marketing campaign finance fraud that he’s accused of and would love us as a substitute to deal with what a dedicated Trump sycophant he’s,” Democratic Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont instructed Axios. “Really pathetic. Voters from Tennessee deserve significantly better.
In a press release, Ogles’ fellow Tennessean Steve Cohen, a Democrat, wrote: “2 phrases is sufficient chaos for any nation to endure.”
It’s unlikely any of it will do critical harm to Ogles’ political profession. He simply received re-election in 2024 regardless of the ethics scandal and a number of different scandals, together with false statements about his skilled and academic background and {qualifications}, and what occurred to $25,000 he raised on GoFundMe for a kids’s burial backyard that by no means materialized.
