We’re just a few weeks away from Republicans taking back control of the presidency, the House, and the Senate. Needless to say, this has caused Democrats to go into full panic mode as they wonder what Republicans may have in store for the nation.
One of the things that Democrats are particularly afraid of is the prospect of Republicans launching another constitutional convention. This would be unprecedented, given the fact that there hasn’t been a constitutional convention since 1787. It was then that the founding fathers gathered in Philadelphia to draw up the U.S. Constitution.
Since it’s been hundreds of years since the last convention, many don’t see another one in the cards. However, the Constitution includes one line that gives Congress the ability to convene a rewrite session if two-thirds of state legislatures.
This one line has been enough to send Democrats into hysterics over the prospect of Republicans aiding President-Elect Donald Trump in enacting another convention to rewrite the Constitution completely.
Some Democratic officials are more concerned than ever. In California, a Democratic state senator, Scott Wiener, will introduce legislation on Monday that would rescind the state’s seven active calls for a constitutional convention, the first such move since Donald J. Trump’s election to a second term.
Mr. Wiener, who represents San Francisco, and other liberal Democrats believe there is a strong possibility of a “runaway convention.” They say that Republicans could call a convention on the premise, say, of producing an amendment requiring that the federal budget be balanced, then open the door for a free-for-all in which a multitude of other amendments are considered, including some that could restrict abortion access or civil rights.
“I do not want California to inadvertently trigger a constitutional convention that ends up shredding the Constitution,” Mr. Wiener said in an interview.
Can This Really Happen?
Article V of the Constitution can be amended if legislators in two-thirds of states agree to convene. This would require 34 states out of 50 to come to this agreement. In the wake of last month’s election, 28 state legislatures will be controlled by Republicans while 18 will be controlled by Democrats. The rest are set to be split.
Meanwhile, more than 34 states have standing requests to make changes to the Constitution. In fact, some of these requests date back over 150 years.
President-Elect Donald Trump hasn’t expressed any interest in another constitutional convention being held as of late. However, in the past, he’s expressed interest in making changes to the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, he wants to take out the provision that citizenship is granted to anyone born in the United States.
Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and a constitutional law expert, believes that Democrats have “very legitimate” reasons to be concerned about the possibility of another constitutional convention being in the works.
“The fact that we haven’t had one since 1787 leads me to believe it’s unlikely to happen, but we’re in an unprecedented time in American history, so it’s hard to make predictions about anything,” he said. “It’s all uncharted territory.”
Despite the Democrat panic, we find it to be extremely unlikely that another constitutional convention will actually happen. If it does, however, it will certainly be fun to see the liberal outrage that will undoubtedly ensue!
Key Takeaways:
- Democrats are afraid Republicans may launch a constitutional convention.
- There hasn’t been a constitutional convention since 1787.
- Trump has expressed interest in amending the 14th Amendment.
Source: DNyuz
