The Solution to the Third-Term Threat

Brian Kalt: “If a two-termer tried to run for vice president and the eligibility question ended up in court, this new succession statute would not settle the question, but it would send a powerful message about Congress’s understanding of these constitutional requirements. Moreover, to the extent that the courts left the eligibility question to Congress to resolve when its joint session counts electoral votes every four years on January 6, the statute would send a powerful message to those proceedings, too.”

“The people are the ultimate enforcers here. The more decisively political leaders from both parties reject the loophole interpretation, the less public support any two-termer would get for any constitutional shenanigans, and the higher the political cost would be to those who would aid and abet them. Such action is a worthy pursuit for a republic that hopes to endure.”