The Resolution That Would Allow Donald Trump A Third Term, But Not Every President

Just days after Donald Trump returned to the White House to begin serving his second term, U.S. Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, introduced a joint resolution in the House to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Trump to serve a third term. Since 1951, the law of the land has barred anyone from serving more than two presidential terms due to the 22nd Amendment. But that hasn't stopped Trump from publicly floating the idea of a third term. The latest came on March 30, 2025, during an NBC interview when he said he was serious about the possibility. "There are methods which you could do it," he said.

One of these methods would be changing the Constitution. Ogles' joint resolution that would allow Trump to be elected to a third term has quite a hill to climb since, like all amendments to the Constitution, it would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states for it to pass. If it did make it over that hurdle, the language of the resolution would prevent such former presidents as Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, from seeking a third term as well as future two-consecutive-term presidents. Ogles wrote the resolution specifically for Trump since it stipulates only presidents who haven't served "two consecutive terms" would be allowed to be elected to a third term.

Following the unprecedented third and fourth terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the turbulent 1930s and 1940s of the Great Depression and World War II, Congress began the process of amending the Constitution to impose presidential term limits. The process began in 1947 and was ratified by the states in 1951. Before FDR, previous presidents had followed the unwritten rule of only serving two terms, a precedent set by George Washington. The heart of the 22nd Amendment states that no "person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice," (via the Reagan Library).

Andy Ogles' joint resolution would change that to no "person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms," among other stipulations (via the joint resolution). As mentioned, the resolution is tailor made for Trump, since he made history by becoming the only president to serve non-consecutive terms except for Grover Cleveland back at the turn of the 20th century. But it wouldn't preclude future presidents who fit the requirements from also serving a third term.

The process to amend the Constitution isn't easy. It's only succeeded 27 times in more than 200 years. So getting Andy Ogles' joint resolution to allow Donald Trump to run for a third term across the finish line would be no easy feat. First, it would need to pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds margin. In the House, the Republicans have a razor-thin majority and would be unlikely to get the votes needed for the next step. Considering Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York introduced his own resolution back in November 2024 to keep the 22nd Amendment in place, this seems like a non-starter. Over in the Senate, the Republicans have a larger percentage of seats, but would still need help from Democrats to achieve a two-thirds victory, which also seems unlikely.

If it did somehow pass both houses of Congress, it would then go to the states. The state legislatures would have seven years to ratify the proposed amendment. Considering Trump would be 82 in 2028, and 86 in 2032, time isn't on his side. Currently, Ogles' joint resolution has been with the House Committee on the Judiciary since January without further movement. Amending the Constitution to allow Trump to run again, while blocking other presidents from doing the same doesn't seem likely, but there may be other ways Trump could try to circumvent the 22nd Amendment to stay in power.