Trump 2.0 vs. the US Constitution, annotated – CNN
Trump 2.0 vs. the US Constitution, annotated
How the 47th president-elect is pushing the boundaries of the founding document
By Zachary B. Wolf, Curt Merrill and Way Mullery, CNN
Published: January 18, 2025
Unlike any other president, Donald Trump has tested the words and ideas in the literal text of the US Constitution, from the Preamble through the 27th Amendment.
There are multiple passages he has said or suggested he will ignore or reinterpret.
The president-elect wants to end birthright citizenship, even though it’s in the 14th Amendment. His pledge to use “impoundment” to save money runs afoul of the idea that the legislature has the power of the purse. He has mused about ending the federal income tax, groused about the Senate’s role in confirming appointees and joked about staying in power after his second term ends. But the Constitution is clear in what it does and does not allow.
As he enters the White House a second time, it’s worth reading the Constitution, again, with a highlighter, and through the lens of Trump’s promises and his plans.
Read the United States’ founding document along with us — from top to bottom — or use the dropdown menu to skip ahead to a specific article or amendment.
Editor’s Note: The article link shows a list of the U.S. Constitution, annotated by section or part, re: Trump 2.0. I could not include that link box in my re-posting. Use on the CNN page. Below is the truncated beginning on the text…
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
– Congress –
Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
The framers, by design, put the Congress and the House first in the Constitution because they wanted the legislature to drive the government. That’s not how things feel with today’s gridlocked Congress and powerful presidents.
For another line-by-line deconstruction of the Constitution with input from across the political spectrum, check out this one from the National Constitution Center.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
This reference to enslaved Americans being referred to as 3/5 of “free Persons” for counting purposes — a compromise between the northern and southern states at the time of the writing of the Constitution — was overwritten by the 13th and 14th Amendments. Also, Native Americans are now taxed and thus counted for apportionment.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Trump is the only president in US history to face two impeachments, and the only impeached president to win a second term. He is unlikely to face impeachment so long as Republicans control the House, which they will at least until January 2027.
Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump 2.0 vs. the US Constitution, annotated – CNN
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