Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) revealed his plan today for a Constitutional Convention. The goal is to to amend the US Constitution and give states the power to overrule federal law or a Supreme Court decision.
Here is the list of Abbott’s proposed amendments:
- Prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State.
- Require Congress to balance its budget.
- Prohibit administrative agencies, and the un-elected bureaucrats that staff them, from creating federal law.
- Prohibit administrative agencies, and the un-elected bureaucrats that staff them, from preempting state law.
- Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
- Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
- Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution.
- Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds.
- Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a federal law or regulation.
Amending the US Constitution is challenging. To keep it in perspective:
- Only 27 amendments have been ratified since 1789 – ten of which happened very early with the Bill of Rights.
- Six other amendments were adopted by Congress but failed to gain approval by the required number of states.
- In all, nearly 12,000 amendments have been proposed to Congress
However, with nearly two-thirds of the state legislatures currently controlled by conservatives Governor Abbott’s shot across the bow of the US Constitution is well worthy of our vigilance.