On Monday night, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett weighed in on the possibility of a third term for President Donald Trump. During a Fox News interview, she agreed with host Bret Baier that the Constitution was “cut and dry” on the two-term limit.
Baier’s questions about presidential term limits came after months of remarks from Trump about the possibility of staying in office beyond his two terms.
What did Justice Barrett say?
During the Fox interview, Barrett noted the writers of the Constitution used “varying levels of generality” when drafting the document. She said some parts are very specific, referencing the requirement that presidents need to be at least 35 to run.
Then Baier asked her, “Right, and the 22nd Amendment says you can only run for office for two terms.” To which Barrett replied, “True.”
Baier then asked Barrett if she thought the amendment was “cut and dry.”
“Well, you know, that’s what the amendment says, right? You know, after FDR [Franklin D. Roosevelt] had four terms, that’s what that amendment says,” she said.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
The 22nd Amendment says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.” Congress approved the language in 1947 after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt won four consecutive elections from 1932 to 1944.
The amendment took effect in 1951 after three-quarters of U.S. states ratified it.
What has Trump said about a third term?
Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM
Only President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served more than two full terms, after voters elected him to four consecutive terms.
Trump, on several occasions, has brought up the possibility of a third term.
In March, during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump said there were “methods which you could do it,” referring to a third term. He emphasized that he was “not joking” about the prospect.
During that interview, he mentioned the possible scenario of running as vice president and then ascending to the presidency via succession. When asked about details, he declined, saying he had more people ask him to have a third term but claimed he was more focused on his current term.
However, the majority of constitutional experts agree this couldn’t work. They say the 22nd Amendment would bar Trump, or any president elected to two terms, from running as a vice president. This is due to the 12th Amendment stating that no one constitutionally ineligible for the presidency can run as the vice president.
In April, Trump began selling Trump 2028 merchandise, which drew speculation following his comments to Welker.
However, in May, Trump appeared in a different interview with NBC, saying he would be a “two-term president,” downplaying his previous comments of a possible third term.
In several subsequent interviews, he said he would “probably not [run again],” but said, “I’d like to.” He said that there were several well-known loopholes, but said, “He didn’t believe in loopholes.”
What have others said about a possible third Trump term?
Besides Barrett, others have spoken on the possibility of Trump running for a third term.
In April, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon appeared on “Real Time with Bill Maher” and said Trump is “going to have a third term.”
“President Trump is going to run for a third term, and President Trump is going to be elected again on the afternoon of Jan. 20 of 2029. He’s going to be president of the United States,” Bannon said.
When Maher pushed back, referencing the 22nd Amendment, Bannon said that the president had a team looking into ways around the amendment, saying the Constitution is “open for interpretation.”
Days after Trump began his second term, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to allow a president to win up to “no more than three terms.”
In June, Ogles again pushed for the resolution, saying Trump has “earned a third term.”
“He outmaneuvered the neocon war hawks and exposed the pro-jihad left while prioritizing peace. Let’s be honest: he’s the greatest leader we’ve had in centuries,” Ogles wrote in a post on X.
Despite Ogles’ legislative push, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in early April there was no current legislation seeking to amend the Constitution.
“I think he [Trump] recognizes the constitutional limitations, and I’m not sure that there’s a move about to amend the Constitution,” Johnson said.
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