Last week, New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman introduced a resolution reaffirming that the 22nd Amendment, which bars individuals from serving more than two presidential terms, applies to president-elect Donald Trump.
Goldman, who served as a lead counsel during one of Trump’s impeachment inquiries, said that the resolution was necessary, especially in light of Trump asking Republicans last week about whether he could serve another term in office.
In a meeting with House Republicans shortly after his presidential election win earlier this month, Trump suggested that Congress could make it possible for him to run again if he desired to do so in 2028.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something. Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out,'” Trump is said to have stated in the meeting.
This isn’t the first time Trump has quipped about serving a tenure longer than is legally allowed. He made similar remarks during his last presidential term, as well as during his campaign earlier this year.
Reacting to observers questioning whether or not Trump was serious, Republicans were quick to claim that Trump was merely joking about the idea of running again. Some Democrats, including Goldman, did not find the joke very funny.
The 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” The measure was passed after President Franklin Roosevelt was elected to four terms in office.
In introducing his resolution last week, Goldman explained during an interview that Trump’s statement — joke or not — required a response from lawmakers.
“I’ve been following Donald Trump very closely for the last five years. … I know how he operates,” Goldman said, noting that Trump likes to float “trial balloons that he often claims are jokes” and that he’s “very serious” about the idea of extending his tenure.
“Things start as a joke, then they become normalized, and then he tries to do them,” Goldman added.
The text of his resolution states that the House of Representatives “reaffirms that the Twenty-second Amendment applies to two terms in the aggregate as President of the United States,” and that it “applies to President-elect President Trump.”
In a separate interview, Goldman said that Republicans needed to join with Democrats to pass the resolution, regardless of whether they felt Trump was simply being humorous.
The 22nd Amendment and his resolution are both “very clear,” Goldman said, and it should be “very easy” for Republicans to vote favorably for the measure.
“Any attempt by Donald Trump to do so is blatantly unconstitutional, and I call on my colleagues — D or R — to stand by their oath to defend the Constitution,” Goldman wrote in a social media post.
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