Eliminating the electoral college is worth the short-term risk of another Trump presidency.
Ian Ayres is the Oscar M. Ruebhausen professor of law at Yale Law School.
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Donald Trump made it clear that he was “not joking” about serving a third term in the White House. There are “methods,” the president asserted, to make it happen.
A third Trump term, of course, would violate the 22nd Amendment, which explicitly states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.” Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) has, accordingly, proposed an amendment to remove this impediment. Congressional Democrats could easily block that measure, but they should seriously consider whether there might be a constitutional compromise worth exploring.
Imagine, for instance, an amendment that allows Trump to run again in 2028 but at the same time abolishes the electoral college. Might that be an amendment the party could support?
A stand-alone amendment to eliminate the electoral college in favor of the national popular vote has virtually no chance of being ratified by the requisite 38 state legislatures. Small states simply won’t surrender the disproportionate influence the electoral college affords them. But elected Republicans’ obedience to the wishes of their president creates a unique opportunity. If Trump embraced a compromise amendment that allowed him to run for another term, the legislators of deeply pro-Trump states such as North Dakota — which Trump won by 36 points this past November — just might fall in line.
The prospects for cutting a deal might be enhanced if the amendment gave onlyTrump the opportunity to run for a third term. The president is right when he says that “a lot of people would like me to” hold office for a third term. But the MAGA faithful would be less excited about the prospect of, say, another Barack Obama candidacy. Then again, requalifying Obama, who is 15 years younger than Trump, might excite Democrats and make them more likely to support the change. Modifying the 22nd Amendment to allow anyone to try for a third terms avoids littering the text with a provision more akin to a private bill that extends a special right to a single specific person.
Rushing ratification of an amendment might be a daunting undertaking. But support from Trump could be a magic lubricant to unstick the legislative process. The president has expressed the view that he is uniquely qualified to cure our nation’s ills and might sincerely believe that he and future Republicans could prevail in a nationwide popular vote.
Trump’s lawless and reckless first 100 days, his unbridled imperialism, and his retributive targeting of political adversaries make the prospect of four more years unthinkable for many. But Democrats would be wise to ponder the unthinkable. At least as a thought experiment, liberals should ask themselves whether there are any constitutional reforms that would justify giving Trump another bite at the apple. Improving the long-term structure of our constitutional system by eliminating the electoral college might be worth the short-term risk — especially if we continue to have faith in the American people and majority rule.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/02/trump-third-term-abolish-electoral-college/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzQzNjUyODAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzQ1MDM1MTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NDM2NTI4MDAsImp0aSI6IjM3Zjc2ZTk2LTkwMmMtNDBlMS05MWFmLTc3NjFlNjIxMmUyNiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vcGluaW9ucy8yMDI1LzA0LzAyL3RydW1wLXRoaXJkLXRlcm0tYWJvbGlzaC1lbGVjdG9yYWwtY29sbGVnZS8ifQ.aDEbqmjNS0JzjplxHL67Idgf7eBZFr6Zx1D1joNHGt0