[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Nomination of John George Edward Marck

  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. 
I am a proud member of the Delaware bar. I clerked for a Federal court. 
And in a recent confirmation hearing, I asked four different nominees 
to serve as Federal district court judges a simple question: What does 
the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provide?
  None of them could answer, so I helped them. In summary, it says you 
can't serve three terms as President. Once elected twice, you may not 
serve a third term--adopted after Franklin Delano Roosevelt served four 
terms. Its text and intent are simple and clear.
  I questioned all four: Can you tell me whether President Trump can 
serve a third term, given the language of the 22nd Amendment?
  All four refused. They could not find the courage to say: Yes, as a 
simple matter of fact and constitutional law, on the plain text, 
President Trump is in his second term; he cannot serve a third.
  Why? Why would anyone fail to answer this simple question? I believe 
it is because they were terrified, if they did, President Trump would 
pull their nomination.
  No one should be confirmed--no one should be confirmed--to a lifetime 
judicial appointment who cannot summon the most simple courage to apply 
the text of the Constitution.
  I will vote against all the nominees before us today because of their 
failure to answer simple textual questions about the meaning and 
purpose of our Constitution. If you are too afraid of the President to 
answer whether the 22nd Amendment, by its plain text, means he can't 
run and win a third time, how will you be an independent judge, and how 
could you possibly deserve a lifetime appointment?
  I urge my colleagues to stand up to this and to insist on an 
independent Federal judiciary.
  With that, I yield the floor.