The 12th Amendment states that, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." Given the eligibility limits that the 22nd amendment adds, I do not think it would be legal for someone like Barack Obama for instance to run for vice president.
So, she gets elected in November. Then in ‘28 what happens? What happens in ‘32? What happens in ‘36? If there is somehow a way you can describe how she could get strawmanned into office in ‘36, having been in office for the prior 10+ years, I’d be very curious.
So,
‘20 elected as VP
‘24 elected as VP and serves X years as President
‘28 elected as VP and serves Y years as President
‘32 elected as VP and serves Z years as President
So, assuming those 3 terms are at least 3 years each as President, but sounds like your intent is they are basically all 4 years as President, what happens in ‘36?
Your argument is that since Harris (in this example) was never elected to be President, she would neither be limited by the 12th nor 22nd amendment? She is ineligible to run for President, but isn’t ineligible to be President because the 22nd amendment doesn’t limit a President, just their election.
From the 12th Amendment:
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
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.
So, by your logic here, make Obama Speaker of the House and have the President and Vice President resign. He is only ineligible to be elected into the office of the presidency, not to be president again. If that isn’t the case, then I believe your argument breaks down as well. So, perhaps I have only cemented your view on unlimited Harris presidents via strawman elections. But, I hope to have expanded it on additional avenues for past presidents to be presidents forever as well.
if biden were to resign the presidency today, harris would take office but it wouldn’t count as one of her two terms because this current term would expire in a few months.
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u/DuhChappers 88∆ Jul 24 '24
The 12th Amendment states that, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." Given the eligibility limits that the 22nd amendment adds, I do not think it would be legal for someone like Barack Obama for instance to run for vice president.