This joint resolution proposes a new constitutional article that caps the number of times a person may be elected President at three, while also forbidding anyone who has been elected to two consecutive terms from being elected to any additional term. The text also repeats the familiar succession limitation: a person who served more than two years of a term to which another was elected may be elected only twice.
If enacted as an amendment, the change would reshape the legal landscape created by the 22nd Amendment by carving out a route for some candidates to be elected three times (subject to the consecutive‑terms restriction) and preserving the existing restriction on those who succeed midterm. The practical results would affect candidates, political parties, election officials and courts charged with applying or litigating candidate eligibility rules.
At a Glance
What It Does
The resolution proposes a standalone amendment that (1) prohibits anyone from being elected President more than three times, (2) prohibits anyone who has been elected to two consecutive terms from being elected to any additional term, and (3) limits those who served more than two years of a predecessor’s term to being elected no more than twice. It submits that amendment for state ratification.
Who It Affects
Presidential candidates and potential successors (vice presidents who may ascend), national and state political parties that recruit and nominate former presidents, state election officials who verify candidate eligibility, and federal and state courts that would resolve disputes over the amendment’s interpretation and application.
Why It Matters
The proposal departs from the 22nd Amendment’s two‑election ceiling by creating a conditional three‑election ceiling and an additional bar tied to having held two consecutive elected terms. That combination creates new opportunities for nonconsecutive third‑term bids while also introducing drafting tensions that courts would likely have to resolve.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The amendment text is short but consequential. It first declares that no person may be elected President more than three times.
That language, standing alone, would increase the maximum number of times a person could win the presidency compared with the current 22nd Amendment, which says a person may not be elected more than twice.
The next clause inserts a separate restriction: someone who has been elected to two consecutive terms may not be elected to any additional term. Read together with the three‑election cap, this creates a specific pathway: a person could be elected three times so long as they never reach two consecutive elected terms that would then bar further election.
In practice, that means a three‑election path would require the three victories to avoid producing a two‑consecutive‑term block that prevents a subsequent election.The final clause mirrors the 22nd Amendment’s succession rule: if a person has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected (for example, by succeeding after a resignation or death), that person may be elected only twice. That preserves the familiar limitation on long partial successions and therefore limits total elected service for such successors in the same way the current Constitution does.The resolution also submits the amendment for ratification by the state legislatures, with a seven‑year window for states to ratify.
If three‑fourths of the states ratify within that period, the new text would become part of the Constitution and control presidential eligibility going forward. The text does not spell out transitional arrangements for persons who held office before ratification; courts would be asked to interpret how prior service interacts with the new limits.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The amendment’s operative text contains three distinct constraints: a three‑election cap, a ban on any additional elections after two consecutive elected terms, and a succession‑style cap that limits those who served >2 years of a predecessor’s term to two elections.
The resolution sets a seven‑year ratification deadline: the amendment must be ratified by the legislatures of three‑fourths of the states within seven years of submission.
The succession clause repeats the exact eligibility trigger found in the 22nd Amendment—service for more than two years of a term to which another was elected—and applies the two‑election limit to those successors.
Under the amendment’s text, a candidate could potentially be elected three times only if they avoid being elected to two consecutive terms (the draft forbids any additional election after two consecutive wins).
This proposal was introduced in the House as H.J. Res. 29 (119th Congress) by Rep. Andrew Ogles; it is presented as a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Three‑election cap
This opening clause states the headline rule: no person shall be elected President more than three times. Practically, that raises the ceiling above the current two‑election limit in the 22nd Amendment for at least some candidates. Implementation will require election officials to track the number of times an individual has been elected; the text uses the word "elected," focusing on electoral victories rather than total time in office.
Bar following two consecutive elected terms
This separate sentence forbids anyone who has been elected to two consecutive terms from being elected to any additional term. Drafting wise, it is an independent constraint that operates regardless of the three‑election cap: once a person has achieved two successive elected terms, the amendment disqualifies them from any future election. That creates the unusual opportunity of permitting three total elected terms only if those terms are arranged so the candidate never has two consecutive elected victories that would trigger the bar.
"More than two years" succession limitation
This clause reproduces the familiar succession rule: if someone served more than two years of a term to which another was elected, they may be elected President no more than twice. Functionally, this preserves the current constitutional treatment of vice presidents or others who succeed midterm and prevents converting a long partial succession into an unlimited path to multiple elections.
Submission and seven‑year ratification window
The joint resolution directs submission of the proposed article to the states and conditions its validity on ratification by state legislatures in three‑quarters of the states within seven years. That timetable is the conventional congressionally prescribed window for amendments; it means the amendment must secure broad interstate assent in a single, bounded period or it fails and would need to be reintroduced.
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Explore Elections in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Former presidents seeking a nonconsecutive comeback — The text allows a path to a third elected term as long as the candidate avoids two consecutive elected terms, expanding eligibility for well‑timed nonconsecutive bids.
- Political parties that want to re‑nominate established figures — Parties could legally run a candidate for a third, nonconsecutive term in some circumstances, giving them more flexibility in candidate selection strategies.
- Voters preferring repeat officeholders nonconsecutively — Electorates in states could choose to return a former president for a third term if they have not been barred by the consecutive‑term clause.
- Legal practitioners and scholars — The amendment would spawn novel constitutional litigation and scholarship as courts interpret the text against existing amendments and prior practice.
Who Bears the Cost
- State election officials and secretaries of state — They will need to establish procedures to verify whether a candidate has been elected previously, determine whether any two terms were consecutive, and apply the succession exception.
- Courts and litigants — The drafting tensions and overlap with the 22nd Amendment will generate litigation about how to reconcile the two texts and how to apply the amendment to prior service, producing litigation costs and docket pressure.
- Political parties and prospective candidates who planned conventional consecutive runs — The ban on election after two consecutive terms removes a potential route to a third consecutive elected term and changes long‑term strategic planning.
- Campaigns for successors who served partial terms — Vice presidents or successors who have served more than two years face the continued restriction of being electable only twice, limiting their long‑term prospects compared with those who never served a long partial term.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between limiting long‑term incumbency and preserving voter choice: the proposal seeks to restrict concentration of power across multiple terms while still permitting some candidates to be elected three times in nonconsecutive patterns — but it does so by layering rules that make eligibility contingent and legally ambiguous, trading simple bright‑line limits for a more complex regime that invites litigation and administrative difficulty.
The amendment’s short wording creates real interpretive knots. The combination of a three‑election cap with a separate bar triggered by two consecutive elected terms is unusual: it permits three total elections in some patterns of service but removes that possibility if a candidate ever runs two consecutive winning campaigns.
That conditional structure is logically coherent but counterintuitive, and contested cases will arise about whether interrupted sequences count as "consecutive" when, for example, a two‑term incumbent leaves office early or is removed and later runs again.
Another unresolved question is how this new text would live alongside the existing 22nd Amendment. Because both would be constitutional amendments, courts would have to harmonize their provisions.
The draft preserves the 22nd‑style succession restriction, but does not explicitly repeal or amend the 22nd Amendment’s two‑election language. That could produce two coexisting rules with overlapping coverage and potential conflicts in application, especially around retroactivity and persons whose service spans the amendment’s ratification date.
Finally, the amendment uses "elected" as the key metric rather than time served; that choice focuses enforcement on electoral outcomes but leaves room for disputes about appointments, contested elections, or definitively counting elections that were later invalidated.
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