Council members want City to oppose measure to allow POTUS third term

Several members of the Common Council want the City of Milwaukee on record officially opposing federal legislation that would amend the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to allow an individual to serve three terms as president.

In late January, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced legislation to amend the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution so the U.S. “can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, Alderwoman Andrea M. Pratt, Alderwoman Larresa Taylor, Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr., and Alderwoman Sharlen P. Moore are sponsors of Council File #241576, which directs the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Division to oppose the federal measure to allow a third POTUS term.

“We see this effort (to allow a third presidential term) as a divisive and inappropriate maneuver designed to pander to a small slice of Americans who support the sitting President,” the Council members said. “We think it is important for the City of Milwaukee to be on record in opposition to this wrongheaded measure.”

The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, prevents a person from serving as president for more than two terms. It was passed by Congress in 1947 in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt winning four terms in the White House. Roosevelt died the year after he was elected to his fourth term in the 1944 presidential election.

There have been about 11,000 proposed amendments to the Constitution and only 27 have actually gone through since it was drafted in 1787, and that includes the first 10 amendments that came four years later, known as the Bill of Rights.

A vast majority of proposed amendments die in committees and subcommittees.

Council File #241576 is expected to be heard by the Judiciary and Legislation Committee later this month.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.