This is all assuming that Trump didn’t sue and SCOTUS ends up with some shoddy, asinine interpretation of the constitution that decides Trump is now president for some reason and they all sail away in someone’s yacht
If Biden died tomorrow and Harris took over? and she won the election also. Could she work full two terms or would it count as one when Biden died?
Submitted 8 months ago by Don_Dickle@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
BossDj@lemm.ee 8 months ago
P00ptart@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Harris would be more likely to use that immunity for good use than Biden.
zenharbinger@lemmy.world 8 months ago
no, they can use up to 2 years (I think) of a previous term. LBJ could have had 2 full terms plus the remainder he had from JFK.
someguy3@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Other people have answered that it’s up to two years before it counts as a term. I just want to add that they’ve counted out the exact number of days. They really got this question nailed down.
PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
I’m not a legal expert so take this with a grain of salt. Assuming the Constitution is followed as it currently written…which is a big assumption…
The two-term limitation comes from the 22nd Amendment. This amendment is, in it’s entirety, quoted below:
Section 1
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Concerning Section 2, it was ratified so it is law. Not important to answer our question.
If Joe Biden resigns or is incapacitated right as I post this, then Kamala Harris would become acting President until his term ends on January 20th, 2025 for 157 days, 158 if you count today, which is a far cry from two years. (I believe that she was designated Acting President for a few hours while Biden was getting a colonoscopy, so add that to the tally maybe.)
So it looks like, if I read the bolded section correctly, she would be eligible to be elected a second time if she took over from Biden should he be incapacitated or resign.
dhork@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You are 100% correct, with the one exception that if Biden dies or resigns today, Harris wouldn’t become Acting President, she would become the actual 47th President, and Trump would have to reprint all of his 45-47 hats.
bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Biden resigning now just to make Trump’s hats invalid would be the best Dark Brandon move ever.
PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
Thanks 👍. I corrected my response.
1rre@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
As a follow up, to get a third (and more) term would it be possible to run for vp and have a contract with someone who agrees to resign immediately after inauguration, or is there a law against that?
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Obviously she would have to resign six months early.
PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
I pasted the entire 22nd Amendment into my reply to this post. The “trigger” isn’t the numerical value of 8 years total, it’s the numerical value great than 2 years served.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I think the SCOTUS would just come up with a reason why she can’t.
MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
It’s August so she’d only have to resign 5 months early, you fucking dumbass.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You are correct and it atone for this mistake I’ll ritualistically slaughter a pig and take one strip of bacon from it, leaving the rest for nature to have her way with it.
BodilessGaze@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Harris will be able to serve two terms. The 22nd amendment says:
The second clause applies to vice presidents taking over, but since there’s less than two years left in Biden’s term, it won’t come into effect.
Don_Dickle@lemmy.world 8 months ago
So hypothetically if Biden died two years into his term then Harris could serve the two plus 8?
PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
So having previously served two years exactly is allowed.
Moobythegoldensock@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Yes, hard cutoff is 2.5 terms or 10 years.
JimmyBigSausage@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Yes! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Queen
Nibodhika@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Wait, so you can’t elect someone a third time even if it’s not consecutive? For a example in Brazil it’s illegal to elect someone third times in a row, but two times, someone else gets elected, then re-elect that person again is okay. In fact the current president has already been president twice in the past.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You are correct. Two term limit in the usa.
SolOrion@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
No. The US doesn’t care if the terms are consecutive or not, it’s a hard limit of two terms.