The Constitution at a standstill: From the Politics Desk

In today’s edition, NBC News reporters dig into the impact of the Iran war on the economy at home and also on U.S. forces deployed in the region. Meanwhile, senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen digs into the decades-long dry spell of failed constitutional amendments.

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— Scott Bland

USS Abraham Lincoln to be replaced amid poor conditions for troops deployed to Middle East

By Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains

U.S. military leaders are privately raising concerns inside the Pentagon and the White House about low morale and widespread fatigue among American service members who’ve been deployed for months to support the war with Iran, according to two U.S. officials.

Amid the concerns, the Pentagon plans to replace one of two aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East — the USS Abraham Lincoln, according to a third U.S. official.

There have been growing complaints from service members and their families about the deteriorating living conditions for the more than 50,000 troops deployed, particularly the sailors and Marines who are stationed on aircraft carriers in the Middle East, according to the U.S. officials. Some of them have been at sea for more than nine months, with no end in sight to their deployments.

A typical deployment for a carrier is roughly six to seven months and includes regular stops at ports to refresh and replenish food supplies.

For the 5,000 sailors and Marines on the Lincoln, the cirblockstances have become particularly acute, according to the U.S. officials.

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📉 Impact on the home front:

• Inflation is devouring U.S. workers’ paychecks: Wednesday’s consumer price index report showed inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings declined in July on both a monthly and annual basis — minus 0.1% and minus 0.2%, respectively.

• Stocks rose and bond yields fell sharply Thursday after a fresh read on business inflation showed prices were broadly flat in July. The report fueled optimism on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve may hold off on raising rates this year, after all, even as inflation remains stubborn.

The Constitution at a standstill

Analysis by Jonathan Allen

Back in March, the House considered Rep. Warren Davidson’s proposal to repeal the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for a federal income tax.

The Ohio Republican’s measure received a majority of House votes, 211-207, but failed to hit the two-thirds threshold necessary for each chamber to adopt a constitutional amendment. Still, Davidson’s resolution is distinct: It is the only one of 68 constitutional amendments proposed in this Congress to get a vote on the House or Senate floor.

At a time when Congress is legislating at a historically slow pace and is relatively evenly divided between the parties, there is virtually no chance that any proposal to amend the Constitution could carry two-thirds of both chambers and then get ratified by three quarters of the states. And yet the bills — joint resolutions, technically — keep flying.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., wants to allow President Trump to seek a third term. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and others hope to rewrite the 14th Amendment to prevent babies born in the U.S. to noncitizens parents from automatically gaining citizenship.

Rep. Keith Self, D-Texas, seeks to repeal the 17th Amendment, which provides for senators to be elected by voters rather than state legislatures. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., thinks it’s a good idea to add 12 at-large senators to the upper chamber, along with electors pledged to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. And Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., wants to change the constitutional voting age from 18 to 16.

There are no fewer than nine versions of an amendment to require the federal government to balance its books in the House and Senate bill hoppers.

It’s ironic that there’s still a rush to try to amend the Constitution given how difficult that’s been. Excluding the quirky case of the 27th Amendment, which was proposed in 1789 and finally adopted in 1992, the last time an amendment was proposed, adopted by Congress and ratified by the states was in 1971. That was the amendment establishing 18 as the voting age — the one that Meng hopes to change now.

But the appetite to change the Constitution has waned in recent years. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was common for lawmakers to propose more than 100 constitutional amendments every two years, including 179 attempts in the 101st Congress. But now the total number of amendments introduced each Congress is typically between five dozen and six dozen.

And, of course, sometimes a lawmaker just stops trying.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., tried to repeal the 22nd Amendment and its two-term limit on presidencies during the second terms of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He has not reintroduced it in Trump’s second term.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Scott Bland and Lauren Zola.

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