Second-term Congressional Representative Keith Self introduced a resolution to repeal the 17th Amendment of the United States Constitution on Thursday, June 25.
Rep. Self, 73, is joined by cosponsors Reps. Eric Burlison (MO-07), Andrew Clyde (GA-09), Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Andy Harris (MD-01), Scott Perry (PA-10), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Sheri Biggs (SC-03) and Michael Cloud (TX-27).
To repeal an amendment is no easy feat. In fact, it has only been done once in United States history, when the 21st Amendment replaced the 18th. In order to do so again, a proposed amendment would have to be passed by the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority vote, then two-thirds of state legislatures would call for the amendments to be added to state ballots, which would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
The 17th Amendment states:
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.”
“The current system has given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve,” Congressman Self said in a statement. “Our Founding Fathers designed the Senate to protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach. If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them. Repealing the 17th Amendment will restore that constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union.”
Utah legislators passed a similar resolution in 2016, though the movement later fizzled out.
