{"id":133238,"date":"2026-01-14T13:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133238\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T13:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:43:11","slug":"new-california-bill-looks-to-prevent-president-trump-from-seeking-a-third-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133238\/","title":{"rendered":"New California bill looks to prevent President Trump from seeking a third term"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump<\/a> and his administration have, at times, teased a potential bid for a third term.<\/p>\n

And while the U.S. Constitution explicitly says a person cannot be elected to the presidency more than twice, there\u2019s a new effort in the California Legislature<\/a> to prevent a candidate from appearing on state ballots should an attempt be made to circumvent the 22nd Amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bill<\/a> from Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, would allow the California secretary of state to exclude presidential candidates from the ballot if they are constitutionally ineligible, such as if they are not at least 35 years old or a natural-born citizen. And, specifically, it would bar a presidential candidate from seeking a third term.<\/p>\n

The bill authorizes the secretary of state to \u201cinvestigate the candidate\u2019s qualifications and request proof of the candidate\u2019s constitutional eligibility to hold the office,\u201d should the state\u2019s elections chief have \u201creasonable suspicion\u201d that the presidential or vice presidential candidate does not meet the qualifications for the office.<\/p>\n

It also lays out a quick process for the candidate to challenge the secretary of state\u2019s determination in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be a novel authority for the secretary of state in California to be able to look into specific qualifications,\u201d said Umberg.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.Sen. Tom Umberg (right) is behind a new bill in the California Legislature that he says could \u201cplace California at the forefront of national efforts to protect voters from a potential constitutional crisis.\u201d He\u2019s pictured here speaking at a press conference in Anaheim in September 2025 along with U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (left). (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\u00a0<\/p>\n

State secretaries of state already have the ability to remove ineligible candidates from the ballot for various offices and have already exercised that authority, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a progressive nonprofit that advocates for government ethics and accountability.<\/p>\n

However, CREW and other election experts argue that there is some ambiguity surrounding what California\u2019s secretary of state is permitted to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe existing statutes seem to impose a duty on the secretary of state to put candidates on the ballot under certain conditions, and those conditions don\u2019t really have anything to do with qualifications or not,\u201d said Justin Levitt<\/a>, a constitutional law expert who teaches at Loyola Law School.<\/p>\n

The secretary of state has kicked a presidential candidate off the ballot before: Eldridge Cleaver, who ran for the Peace and Freedom Party in the late 1960s, was removed because he was too young<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But then there is a 2010 California court decision regarding an effort to keep then-President Barack Obama off the ballot because of a false claim that he was not a natural-born U.S. citizen. A judge in the California Court of Appeals, Third District, said in the opinion<\/a> that the \u201csecretary of state does not have a duty to investigate and determine whether a presidential candidate meets eligibility requirements of the United States Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExisting precedence doesn\u2019t squarely give the secretary that authority (to remove someone from the ballot), although the secretary has before, and existing court opinions hasn\u2019t squarely taken it away,\u201d said Levitt.<\/p>\n

CREW, which supports Umberg\u2019s bill, said in a recent letter to top legislators on committees slated to consider the bill this week that the legislation \u201ccarefully balances the Secretary of State\u2019s oath to the Constitution to give them the ability to remove constitutionally ineligible candidates from the ballot and the candidate\u2019s due process rights by setting out expedited procedures to adjudicate any disputes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill clarifies the ambiguity,\u201d said Levitt. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s merely repetitive or redundant. I think it only adds clarity, and elections are a zone where most people prefer additional clarity ahead of time before the issue actually arises.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether Trump actually plans to attempt to circumvent the Constitution and run for a third term.<\/p>\n

He has often teased the possibility, from \u201cTrump 2028\u201d merchandise available in the White House<\/a> to his own comments.<\/p>\n

In October, though, Trump told reporters<\/a>, \u201cBased on what I read, I guess I\u2019m not allowed to run. So, we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d He touted his poll numbers and added, \u201cI would say that if you read it, it\u2019s pretty clear. I\u2019m not allowed to run. It\u2019s too bad, but we have a lot of great people.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked explicitly if he was ruling out during another October press gaggle, the president responded<\/a>: \u201cAm I not ruling it out? You\u2019ll have to tell me.\u201d He did, however, rule out running on a ticket as the vice president, calling that option \u201ctoo cute\u201d and \u201cwouldn\u2019t be right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.<\/p>\n

But Umberg said his bill \u201cplaces California at the forefront of national efforts to protect voters from a potential constitutional crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo president or candidate is above the Constitution, period,\u201d the Santa Ana Democrat said. \u201cWhen Donald Trump treats the rule of law as a suggestion, including constitutional term limits and decades-old election laws, it directly undermines our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia leaders have a duty to reaffirm and reinforce the guardrails that separate the U.S. from a monarchy or dictatorship, and this ballot integrity bill does exactly that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Umberg, who is finishing his final term in the statehouse, was behind another bill last year related to the Trump administration and elections that Gov. Gavin Newsom ultimately signed into law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new law criminalizes lotteries for voter registration or participation. Umberg had said the idea was to ensure wealthy people or special interests cannot influence voter participation, pointing specifically to Elon Musk<\/a> as an example; the former advisor<\/a> to Trump paid some Wisconsin voters $1 million each<\/a> last year, during a tight state Supreme Court election.<\/p>\n

The latest effort, dubbed the \u201cNo Kings\u201d bill \u2014 a reference to the large political demonstrations that have broken out across the country in opposition to Trump and his administration \u2014 is slated to be heard in the Senate elections and judiciary committees on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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