President Donald Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call that he was “not joking” about a third term, adding that “it is far too early to think about it.”
But there is nothing that prevents him from taking a position in the line of succession.
The Constitution left the matter of Presidential Succession up to Congress, and Congress set it up in the Presidential Succession act. That act includes clauses that say it only applied to those “eligible to be President” and not to those who have a "failure to qualify* for the office.
So, simply putting Trump in the line of succession is not enough to get around the Constitutional bar on a third term. He would still be ineligible. There is precedent to enforce this, too: there have been a handful of cabinet secretaries over the years who were not natural-born citizens, and they were not included in the line of succession. Madeline Albright is the one I remember; she was born in Prague and was not eligible despite being Secretary of State.
With all that said, succession is determined by Congress and I suppose they could just pass a law to do whatever they wanted. They’d have to blow up the Filibuster for it. Would they? It would surely get challenged in court but even if the Supreme Court disallowed it, would Trump listen? The Court would need to find a way to enforce it.
Right, but the problem is there is nothing that makes him ineligible to be President. The 22nd amendment does not make one unqualified ot be President after serving two terms does it? It says “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Apart from the additional bit about serving a partial term, that’s it. The limitation is on being elected, not serving, and the amendment itself identifies that there is a difference given they use the term “holding” the office when talking about someone being President without being elected. So, frankly, were I a law-as-written kind of judge, I would have to recognize that distinction and rule that the 22nd amendment does not rule out 3rd terms through succession. Unless there is another law or precedent that I’m unaware of, there does seem to be a pretty glaring opening here.
The Constitution left the matter of Presidential Succession up to Congress, and Congress set it up in the Presidential Succession act. That act includes clauses that say it only applied to those “eligible to be President” and not to those who have a "failure to qualify* for the office.
So, simply putting Trump in the line of succession is not enough to get around the Constitutional bar on a third term. He would still be ineligible. There is precedent to enforce this, too: there have been a handful of cabinet secretaries over the years who were not natural-born citizens, and they were not included in the line of succession. Madeline Albright is the one I remember; she was born in Prague and was not eligible despite being Secretary of State.
With all that said, succession is determined by Congress and I suppose they could just pass a law to do whatever they wanted. They’d have to blow up the Filibuster for it. Would they? It would surely get challenged in court but even if the Supreme Court disallowed it, would Trump listen? The Court would need to find a way to enforce it.
Right, but the problem is there is nothing that makes him ineligible to be President. The 22nd amendment does not make one unqualified ot be President after serving two terms does it? It says “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Apart from the additional bit about serving a partial term, that’s it. The limitation is on being elected, not serving, and the amendment itself identifies that there is a difference given they use the term “holding” the office when talking about someone being President without being elected. So, frankly, were I a law-as-written kind of judge, I would have to recognize that distinction and rule that the 22nd amendment does not rule out 3rd terms through succession. Unless there is another law or precedent that I’m unaware of, there does seem to be a pretty glaring opening here.