Due to the failed repeal of Obamacare, Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor, has called for the 17th Amendment itself to be repealed. This would change the way all senators are elected.
Time to repeal 17th Amendment. Founders had it right-Senators chosen by state legislatures. Will work for their states and respect 10th amid
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 28, 2017
This call is, again, due to the GOP failing to push through what’s called a “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Healthcare Act, in part due to John McCain and Susan Collins joining the Democrats in voting “NO” on said repeal.
CNN reports Dems will give Lifetime Achievement Award to Murkowski Collins and McCain. Schumer so happy he cried.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 28, 2017
If you’re unfamiliar with the 17th Amendment,it establishes the popular vote of United Stats Senators by the voters of their states. Before this was ratified, Senators were elected by state legislatures as per Article I, Clause 1 and 2 of the Constitution and is responsible for how “special elections” are held and handled.The amendment was proposed by the 62nd Congress in 1912 and adopted in 1913 upon being ratified by three-fourths (36) of the state legislatures. It was first implemented in special elections in Maryland (November 1913) and Alabama (May 1914), then nationwide in the November 1914 election.
McCain went on to state, “We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of the aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people,”
With the latest failure, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said said “it is time to move on” for the GOP. “What we tried to accomplish for the American people was the right thing for the country,” McConnell said early Friday. “I think the American people are going to regret that we couldn’t find another way forward.”