Republicans Plan to Rewrite the U.S. Constitution: Part I

Some conservative groups believe we could see a constitutional convention in as little as 24 months. Many were anticipating one to be held next year in 2023. This essay was published on 12/5/2022.

Convention History

Republicans are preparing to rewrite the Constitution of the United States. Stick with me. We could see a Convention of States called next year or within a couple years where delegates from all fifty states will come together and propose amendments to the Constitution. Proposed amendments can repeal current amendments. One example of an amendment getting repealed: Prohibition era of the 1920s banned the sale of alcohol through the 18th Amendment. There are public liquor stores today because the 21st Amendment repealed it through a convention. There's more.  Article V of the current constitution states, 

"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate." 

Your first thought might be, "two-thirds of states, well, that’s 34 states, and they'll never reach that." What if I told you more than 34 states have already called for one? As you read above, Article V does state that for any amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by three fourth or 38 states. Many readers may see this as a safe mechanism in place, but I don't. We live in a post-January 6th world. As we watched the Arizona gubernatorial election unfold, denying laws and procedures will not be the last time. I have a valid concern about right-wing violence.

As said, several states have already met the threshold to call a convention under different topics. Congress has been keeping track of calls for a convention since 2015. However, a newer, more concentrated effort to cover three umbrella topics is already at the halfway mark. The strategy is to gather 34 states to call a convention under the same topic(s). 

Calls for an Article V Convention of States are not new; they have existed since the founding of the United States. However, beginning post-Jim Crow primarily, we saw white southern politicians angered by the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1965) decision. The white southern politicians were motivated to correct what they believed was not only a wrong decision and an example of overreach by the Supreme Court. The Brown v. Board of Education decision struck down state-sanctioned racial segregation, which came from an 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. As a result, state-sanctioned racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional. The children of segregationists attending public schools would now have to attend those same schools with Black children. In fact, the earliest Article V call being recorded by Congress today (as of writing 12/03/2022) is a 1960 resolution from Louisiana. In the text, they are calling for a convention to propose amendments so they can correct that decision. You may be curious why a 1960 resolution from Louisiana is on the record. In 2016, Bob Goodlatte, the former House Judiciary Committee chairman, submitted the call likely after being notified by a Louisiana official. 

One year prior, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) introduced an amendment to the House Rules, which passed by vote. The new House Rules created a system for the government to track Article V applications or "Selected Memorials" from state legislatures. The Amendment streamlined the applications through the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In addition, it gave the Clerk's Office for the House of Representatives the responsibility to track, file, publish, and make public each petition that has been submitted. 

Fast forward sixty-two years from the 1960 Louisiana resolution to 2022, the movement to call a convention over the Brown vs. Board of Education decision has subsided, but not given up. Instead, southern politicians pivoted to establishing a balanced budget amendment and eventually limiting the authority and powers of the federal government and Supreme Court.  

Currently, there are two large Article V movements in the United States. The oldest and largest movement, as of 2021, had 27 states with applications. The fastest-growing movement, however, has reached 19 states and gathered four of those states this year alone: Wisconsin, Nebraska, West Virginia, and South Carolina. 

Balanced Budget Amendment

Let's start with the Balanced Budget Amendment that started in conservative circles in the late 1970s and early 80s to propose an amendment(s) to the Constitution that relates to establishing a balanced budget for the federal government. The push for a Balanced Budget Amendment, is being funded by wealthy conservative groups and individuals, was created by the work of Lewis Uhler and the American Legislative Exchange Council. Suppose you are not familiar with the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC. In that case, ALEC drafts model legislation that many conservative states pass into law. The Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force was established to help gather states to call an Article V Convention of States. Two co-founders are David Biddulph (remember this name) and Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayer Union. In 2021, the BBA had 27 states with Article V resolutions calling for a convention. Supporters of the Balanced Budget Amendment believe the Federal Government must have a balanced budget and end specific discretionary spending. At first glance, that may sound like a simple idea, but it's not. Our government and economy rely on discretionary spending to function. 

About half of the federal government's discretionary budget goes to defense. In contrast, the other half is divided among nondefense administration and agencies such as transportation, education, veteran benefits, and so much more. For the 2021 fiscal year, the federal government's budget was $1.6 trillion, with $895 billion divided into nine categories. The United States's defense was allocated $742 billion, divided into five categories. Defense Operation & Maintenance received the largest budget of all types, $285 billion. It is not likely that conservatives will decrease spending on defense.

On the other hand, conservatives have been raging against many social services and bureaucratic agencies for years. Social services that millions of people in this country rely on because our capitalistic society produces and depends on inequality. The lyric "money for wars, but can't feed the poor" from the 90s rapper Tupac still resonates. Please understand that the calls for proposing amendments for a balanced budget are vague for a reason. A convention would give them the power to propose Amendment(s) related to the federal government's budget, which gives them considerable authority to change just about anything since the country runs on the budget.

The push for limiting government spending does not exist in a vacuum either. Resistance to the New Deal in the 1930s came from pro-business groups and individuals who believed that the New Deal was communism, helping people who did not deserve assistance, specifically Black people, immigrants, and poor white people. Following the Brown v. Board decision and other legal cases that struck down publicly-funded segregation, conservatives began their attacks on government spending and federal authority. Taxes, property rights, and spending have been used as dog whistles. Dog whistles allowed conservatives to hide their true intention of controlling resources from people they deemed undeserving.

Convention of States Action

The second largest call is from the Convention of States Action (COSA), which has connections to the Tea Party movement of the late 2000s. One of the co-founders of the Tea Party Patriots is Mark Meckler. Fast forward a decade, and Meckler is now the President of Citizens for Self-Governance, the organization mainly advocating for the convention. In 2014, Georgia became the first state to pass a Convention of State's Action Article V resolution. Coincidentally, Georgia is the same state Sen. Lindsey Graham allegedly asked state election officials to "use a high frequency of mismatches to justify throwing away mail-in ballots in certain counties." Since Georgia, COSA has secured 18 other states in less than a decade. The groups are working together. On the April 28th, 2022, agenda for the South Carolina Constitutional Law Subcommittee was bill S. 133, which combined the Convention of States and Balanced Budget Amendment into one resolution. South Carolina Republicans had already passed a Convention of States resolution a week or so before this agenda. Republicans in South Carolina attempted to pass a resolution that combined the two calls since the state had yet to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment resolution. During the 2022 legislative session, both chambers could not agree on the language, and a joint conference committee was established. After the conference report was received and adopted, the Senate chamber voted to pass the resolution. In the upcoming 2023 legislative session, the House may pass the resolution leaving it to the Governor to sign it in place.

 

Public Endorsements

COSA has many endorsements from prominent conservatives, some of whom were involved in the events leading up to January 6th. A short list of endorsements are:

Mark Meadows, Former Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump

Sean Hannity, Fox News Commentator

Sen. Lindsey Graham, Current South Carolina Senator

Gov. Ron DeSantis, Current Governor of Florida

Gov Greg Abbott, Current Governor of Texas

Former Gov Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas

Rick Santorum, Former Senator from Pennsylvania

Rep. Chip Roy, Current Texas Representative 

John Eastman, Key lawyer in Trump's campaign to overturn the 2020 Election

Mark Meadows, Sean Hannity, Rep. Chip Roy, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and John Eastman all played different roles in the attempt to overthrow the 2020 Presidential election. More discussion about endorsements will be featured in Part II.

Organizational Endorsements and Opposition 

Not all conservative groups support the convention, though. For example, one of the most notorious conservative groups, The John Birch Society, does not endorse the convention. A few conservative groups have expressed their worry about a convention being hijacked by liberals. Conservatives are concerned about the First and Second Amendments being repealed.

However, one organization that does endorse the convention is the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank based in Jackson, Mississippi. The CEO & President of MCPP is Douglas Carswell. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Douglas Carswell is from the United Kingdom, a former Member of Parliament, and co-founder of Brexit. Yes, that's right, Brexit. For people unfamiliar, Brexit was the "Vote Leave" movement that withdrew the United Kingdom from the European Union. Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric behind the Brexit campaign efforts relied on nationalism and xenophobia. It is a big coincidence that Carswell, who started a nationalist movement in the United Kingdom, is now working in Mississippi for an organization that endorses another nationalist movement attempting to rewrite our Constitution. Although the push in the states is not identical to Vote Leave, it is still drastically changing the institutions of this country and the structures we see today.

People around the United States often trivialize and mock Mississippi for being "backwards," people often use classist and elitist language to shame the state. However, Mississippi is the country's litmus test. Right-wing policies are often tested in Mississippi before they are applied to other states. Legislatively, Mississippi is one of the strongest force-birth states. Mississippi is where the Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade came from. Mississippi was also one of the first states to pass anti-trans sports bills in 2021. As this country continues to move, we must listen and pay attention to the policies in southern states and support our queer, poor, Black, and Brown comrades on the frontlines.

Wolf-Pac and U.S. Term Limits

In addition to the large movements in the country, two smaller Article V convention organizations are growing. However, all the groups are working together to collect the 34 states needed to call a convention. For example, the U.S. Term's Limit was created by Eric O'Keefe, one of the Delegates from Wisconsin at the 2016 Convention of States Action simulation. In the early stages, the state's ballot initiative process was their primary mechanism for passing term limits. However, in recent years they have shifted to pushing for a convention of states to pass term limit amendment(s) to the Constitution that would limit the terms of elected and unelected officials. 

Another convention advocate is Wolf-Pac. According to its Articles of Organization, Wolf-Pac was created by The Young Turks, a 'left-leaning' online news outlet founded by Cenk Uygur post-Occupy Wall Street. Wolf-Pac works as the political arm of The Young Turks to push forward a remedy for the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. According to the organization's website, the solution is to "Add a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will ensure the integrity of our elections and establish a government accountable to the people." 

Earlier in this piece, I asked you to remember a name. Do you remember David Biddulph? Well, in 2021, according to the Wolf-Pac's website, Sam Fieldman was "an independent contractor filling in the role of National Council and is the member of the Leadership Council." Fieldman spoke on a presentation called The "No Runaway" Article V Conventions Act with Biddulph at an Article V Academy of Sates 2.0 organized by ALEC. Fieldman was also a keynote presenter during the Academy of States 3.0 this year in July. In their presentation, they lay out the mechanism that could be established to ensure no "runaway" convention. Unlike much of the opposition, I do not fear a "runaway" convention. In fact, the right is very organized and will do exactly what they plan. Their calls, especially the Convention of States Action, are vague. Vague topics will allow them to remain 'on-topic' while still curtailing the powers and authority of the Federal Government and Supreme Court. The Academy of States is a conference series started by Path to Reform. This organization believes the push for an Article V convention should be a nonpartisan effort. In October, Path to Reform was preparing for a convention to be held in 2023. The website has since been scrubbed of that information, but you can find the archive of their Plan here.  

Both minor movements push bipartisan support for their issue, Wolf-Pac pushing for election finance reform and U.S. Term Limits focusing on limiting the terms of federal officials'. Each group is capitalizing on its single issue, not being politically divisive. However, I am unsure of how working with right-wing groups and individuals, especially those who believe in the big lie or attempted to overthrow the election will accomplish that. This desire to appear bipartisan among the center-left and work with or 'compromise' with fascists is a dangerous game. The center-left will not win. When you work with fascists, you work with them on their terms. At least five people who endorse the Convention of States Action were involved in some way or form to help overturn the 2020 election. Am I supposed to believe they will not attempt to seize and consolidate power if a convention is held? Sorry. Not buying that. They are dangerous, and we need to unequivocally denounce working with them.

Some Preparation

Before the Presidential election in September of 2016, more than 130 state legislatures, public officials, and other state actors from all fifty states gathered in Williamsburg, Virginia, to attend a 'simulated' or mock Convention of States. Before this event, the Convention of States Action drafted rules for the convention. State commissioners were assigned to a committee (Fiscal Restraint, Term Limits, Federal Judicial Jurisdiction, Executive Jurisdiction, or Federal Legislation). They passed six proposals, including the ability for states to override Supreme Court decisions and Executive Orders by a simple majority that would theoretically go back to the states. 

Here is the list of attendees to the 2016 Convention organized by the Convention of States Action. Can you find your former or current state legislator? Are there any names that look familiar?

COSA Simulation Attendees

Check back soon for Part II of this Constitutional Convention series where I will talk about key figureheads, the current Article V count, and goals of the movement.