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Tag: amendment

DeSantis endorses idea of abolishing property taxes via constitutional amendment

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed the idea of abolishing property taxes throughout the Sunshine State, but explained that it would require a constitutional amendment.

The governor, who is currently serving his second term after a decisive re-election victory in Florida’s 2022 gubernatorial contest, was responding to someone on X who advocated abolishing property taxes in the state and asked what would need to be done to make that happen.

“Property taxes are local, not state. So we’d need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them,” DeSantis noted.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference on Sept. 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that 60%,” he continued.

“I agree that taxing land/property is the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation,” the governor added.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2024. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Eric Trump, one of President Donald Trump’s sons, shared DeSantis’ post, and hailed the idea, declaring, “Florida leading the way! This is amazing!”

The governor’s tweet has amassed more than 50,000 likes so far since he shared it on Thursday evening.

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DeSantis mounted a presidential bid in 2023, but dropped out and endorsed Trump in early 2024 after finishing in a distant second place in the Iowa Republican presidential caucus.

February 14, 2025
‘Integrity of the Court’: Cruz reintroduces amendment to combat court expansion efforts

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, is reintroducing a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Supreme Court Justices at nine, amid calls to expand the court.

Cruz, now joined by 15 cosponsors including Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (LA), Chuck Grassley (IA), Mike Crapo (ID), Thom Tillis (NC) and John Cornyn (TX), previously introduced the amendment in 2021 and in 2023.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Cruz said Democrats are seeking to “use the Court to advance policy goals they can’t accomplish electorally.”

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“Such a move would be a direct assault on the design of our Constitution, which is designed to ensure the Supreme Court remains a non-partisan guardian of the rule of law,” Cruz said. “This amendment is a badly-needed check on their efforts to undermine the integrity of the Court.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, is reintroducing a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Supreme Court Justices at nine, amid calls to expand the court. (Reuters)

Likewise, Grassley said the amendment would ensure the Court’s independence from political pressures.

“Democrats’ radical court packing scheme would erase the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and destroy historic precedent,” Grassley said in a statement. “The Court is a co-equal branch of government, and our Keep Nine Amendment will ensure that it remains independent from political pressure.”

The nine-justice court currently has a conservative supermajority. Following various landmark decisions in recent years, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Democrats have re-upped calls to impose court reforms, including expanding and packing the court as well as imposing term limits.

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In October, then-Vice President Kamala Harris entertained the notion of imposing court reforms during a CNN town hall. Harris was asked if she would support expanding the number of justices from the current nine to 12.

“There is no question that the American people increasingly are losing confidence in the Supreme Court and, in large part, because of the behavior of certain members of that court and because of certain rulings, including the Dobbs decision and taking away a precedent that had been in place for 50 years, protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said during the event.

In October, then-Vice President Kamala Harris entertained the notion of imposing court reforms during a CNN town hall. (Screenshot/CNN)

“So, I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the court, and we can study what that actually looks like.”

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, also called for reforming the Court that same month, saying in social media posts, “We need to radically reform the broken Supreme Court.”

Democrats have consistently proposed legislation to expand the Supreme Court to a 13-justice bench.

Sen. Ted Cruz’s amendment reintroduction comes in light of calls from the left to expand the Supreme Court as well as impose term limits on the justices. (Saul Loeb//Pool via REUTERS)

In May 2023, Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson joined Democratic Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tina Smith of Minnesota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York, Cori Bush of Mississippi, and Adam Schiff of California, in reintroducing the Judiciary Act of 2023.

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“We want to prevent this kind of rot and decay from ever overtaking a Supreme Court again,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in October.

Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.

February 6, 2025
Federal court rules ATF age limits on handgun sales violate Second Amendment

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled a nationwide ban on handgun sales to young adults is unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans found a federal law that prohibits adults aged 18-20 from buying handguns violates the Second Amendment. The ruling comes as key firearms regulations have been struck down across the country following a landmark Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights in 2022.

“Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” the opinion of the court states. The decision refers the case back to a lower court judge.

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Customers shop for handguns at the Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, in March 2023. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Previously, the appeals court had upheld the requirement that adults must be at least 21 to purchase a handgun. But since the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, judges are required to determine if a firearm restriction being challenged is firmly rooted in the nation’s historical traditions. Judges in Minnesota, Virginia and Texas have already found that state laws restricting handgun sales to young adults do not pass that test.

The Biden administration fought those rulings, but the Trump administration is expected to be friendlier towards gun rights. At a National Rifle Association event last year during the presidential campaign, President Donald Trump said, “no one will lay a finger on your firearms.”

Constitutional law attorney and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley observed that the Trump administration may not appeal the fifth circuit’s decision, which could mean the Supreme Court will not have a chance to review it.

“For gun rights advocates, it may have been better if this decision had been handed down during the Biden Administration,” Turley posted on X. “The Trump Administration will likely support the ruling and not appeal to the Supreme Court. Such an appeal could have extended this precedent nationally.”

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Federal law prohibits handgun sales to young adults under 21 years of age. (Reuters )

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, decided to keep a federal gun law on the books last year. The high court overturned a different ruling from the 5th Circuit and upheld a law intended to protect victims of domestic violence.

“Today’s ruling is yet another critical FPC win against an immoral and unconstitutional age-based gun ban,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs in a statement. Two FPC members sued to overturn the law, along with the Second Amendment Foundation and the Louisiana Shooting Association.

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The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)

“We look forward to restoring the Second Amendment rights of all peaceable adults throughout the United States,” Combs added.

Federal law requires a person to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer and 18 to buy a long gun from a dealer, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. There is an 18-year-old minimum for handgun purchases from unlicensed sellers and no minimum age for long guns, according to the group’s research.

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“The law that prohibits dealers from selling handguns to those under twenty-one is both constitutional and crucial for public safety,” said Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at Everytown Law. “Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens, and 18-to-20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 and over, according to FBI statistics.”

“We hope the federal government will fight this reckless ruling by seeking rehearing en banc, or taking the case directly to the Supreme Court. We look forward to supporting the defense of this common sense law.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chris Pandolfo is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.

January 31, 2025
Missouri AG backs up Trump’s birthright citizenship order, argues 14th Amendment has been ‘perverted’

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey defended President Donald Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship on Wednesday, arguing that the 14th Amendment clause that the policy is based on has been “perverted.”

Bailey told Fox News Digital in an interview that the 14th Amendment “was never intended to be perverted into some kind of bad incentive to violate our national immigration laws.” He went on to note the multiple attempts by President Biden’s administration to bend or break appropriations laws, saying he fought each and every one. Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship has already faced numerous legal challenges.

“Look, the 14th Amendment was drafted and ratified after the Civil War to fix the problem that an activist Supreme Court inflicted on the United States of America in the form of the Dred Scott decision,” Bailey said. “Again, the 14th Amendment was indented to protect Americans like Dred Scott.”

The 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War to acknowledge citizenship for former slaves and their descendants, was not used to confer birthright citizenship to illegal aliens until more than 100 years after it was adopted by Congress, according to legal expert Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation.

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President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders since his inauguration on Jan. 20. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Bailey went on to defend another of Trump’s controversial orders, this one pausing the flow of federal appropriations funding. Trump signed the order this week to ensure that federal agencies were in line with the new administration’s policies before distributing funding.

“The president has the authority to determine the appropriation laws that are passed that appropriate funds toward items in the federal budget, but it’s up to the president to then carry into effect that appropriations law,” Bailey said.

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“I would ask our friends on the left, where were they when President Biden refused to build the border wall for which Congress had appropriated funds and commanded erection of new border barrier systems, period? We had to sue the Biden administration,” Bailey said, noting that Missouri led the ultimately successful effort against the previous administration.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey backed up President Donald Trump’s wave of executive orders on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“They want to call it a constitutional crisis, but they’re silent on issues like that. They’re also silent on issues like when President Biden attempts to appropriate funds by himself without congressional authority. How many times did he try to take taxpayer money to try to pay off student loan debt?” Bailey added.

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Meanwhile, Trump’s opponents have lined up lawsuits in an effort to block executive orders across the board. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued over the birthright citizenship order last week, arguing it was unconstitutional. Twenty-two Democrat-led states joined the ACLU in its effort.

President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship is getting congressional backup from border state Republicans and others. (Getty Images)

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Trump’s opponents argue that of those born on U.S. soil, the text of the law precludes only the children of foreign diplomats from becoming U.S. citizens.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

January 29, 2025
Lawmaker unveils constitutional amendment to give Trump third term

One of President Donald Trump’s top congressional allies introduced a resolution on Thursday evening to allow the commander-in-chief a third term.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is pushing a new amendment to the Constitution that would give a president three terms in office, but no more than two consecutive four-year stints.

The amendment would say, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, 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 twice.”

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Rep. Andy Ogles has introduced a bill that would allow President Trump to have a third term (Getty Images)

The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, prevents a person from serving as president for more than two terms.

It was passed by Congress in 1947 in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt winning four terms in the White House. Roosevelt died the year after he was elected to his fourth term in the 1944 presidential election.

But in a statement released to media on Thursday, Ogles said Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms. (NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

“To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” Ogles said. “This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

Trump made comments about serving a third term to House Republicans during a closed-door speech late last year, but multiple sources who attended the event told Fox News Digital that the then-president-elect was joking.

Earlier this month, Ogles unveiled a bill to authorize Trump to enter into talks to purchase Greenland after he expressed interest in doing so.

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The “Make Greenland Great Again Act” would have authorized Trump to enter negotiations with Denmark over purchasing Greenland, a territory located in North America but with longstanding cultural and geopolitical ties to Europe.

“Joe Biden took a blowtorch to our reputation these past four years, and before even taking office, President Trump is telling the world that America First is back. American economic and security interests will no longer take a backseat, and House Republicans are ready to help President Trump deliver for the American people,” Ogles told Fox News Digital at the time.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 24, 2025