In his first week in office, President Donald Trump, his administration, and the Republican party have made it clear they are intent on disrupting the status quo in the country. From renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, to pardoning the more than 1,500 people charged with participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Trump has given 53 (and counting!) executive orders in his first week in office. But what’s possibly putting people on alert the most is how he’s challenging the U.S. Constitution, which has served as the supreme law of the land since 1787. And it’s not just Trump; over on the legislative branch, Republicans in Congress have also been emboldened to challenge the Constitution in recent days, calling into question rights and protections that have been in place for generations.
For starters, on his first day in office, Trump handed down an order that would effectively end birthright citizenship in the United States — an order that strongly contradicts the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that American citizenship is a birthright for all people born on American soil. After Trump’s order, House Republicans also proposed a bill that would codify it into law. And while neither action proposes actually changing the Constitution, if the law is struck down as unconstitutional (as many are sure it will be), that might spur some Republicans in Congress to then come for the Constitution and introduce a new amendment redefining citizenship.
Another amendment getting attention is the 22nd Amendment, which currently bars anyone from being elected president to serve more than two terms. On Thursday, Republican House member Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a measure to amend the Constitution to allow Trump (and presidents thereafter) to be eligible for a third term in office. Ogles’s reasoning for the extension was that Trump needs more than two terms to be an effective president. “It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” said Ogles in a statement made Jan. 23. The 22nd Amendment has been in the Constitution since 1951.
So, with all this in mind, you might be wondering how likely either of these outcomes are to actually happen _ I mean, how easy is it to actually change the Constitution, anyway? Turns out, while it’s been done before, it’s not as straightforward as Trump would probably like.
Is It Common To Amend The Constitution?
Changing the U.S. Constitution — which Chief Justice John Marshall said in the 1800s was written “to endure for ages to come” — is no simple feat. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, with the most recent amendment, which limited when Congressmembers’ salaries can be changed, being ratified in 1992. More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed since the Constitution has existed, meaning only 0.25% (that’s a quarter of one percent!) of them have passed — those aren’t promising odds.
What Are The Requirements To Amend The Constitution?
The actual amendment process is pretty lengthy, and requires most of Congress to be in agreement. A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then ratified (formally signed) by three-fourths of state legislatures (the people who make state laws). Factor in the intense polarization between the two parties that dominate U.S. politics, and the fact that Republicans only have a narrow majority in both bodies of Congress, it’s pretty hard to imagine that many Congress members agreeing on anything, let alone something as big as a change to the Constitution.
Could The Constitution Change Soon?
The short answer is probably not.
In terms of the birthright citizenship issue, a federal judge has already intercepted Trump’s executive order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional” and issuing a restraining order temporarily blocking it for 14 days. This issue will likely be tied up in the legal system for a while before anyone might try to alter the Constitution to make it an actual amendment, though it’s worth keeping a close eye on.
When it comes to the question of presidential terms, Rep. Ogles’s proposed amendment extending the presidential term limit will almost certainly not pass in Congress. It’s already garnering definitively negative responses from opposers. “Two terms is enough chaos for any nation to endure,” said Tennessee’s Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen in a statement to Axios on Thursday. For what it’s worth, Trump has given mixed messages about his intentions for a third term in office. He told Time in April 2024 that he would not pursue a third term if he won the 2024 election, but on numerous other occasions suggested that after his reelection, supporters “won’t need to vote again,” though what, exactly, he meant by that is unclear.
For those whose necks may have tense up while reading all this, for now, rest assured that the Constitution as we know it probably won’t be changing anytime in the immediate future, but it’s absolutely worth staying vigilant in case anything changes.