WTF?? House Republicans just introduced a measure to REPEAL the 17th Amendment of the US Constitution. They want to ban the people from voting for our US Senators. Instead, they want the Legislature to appoint our Senators.
— Rep. Oscar De Los Santos (@RepODLS) January 28, 2026
WTF are they thinking? pic.twitter.com/r2EROiqI7j
Per Grok AI:
Arizona House Republican Rep. Alex Kolodin introduced House Memorial 2002 on January 28, 2026, urging Congress to propose repealing the 17th Amendment, which would revert U.S. Senator elections to state legislatures rather than popular vote.
The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913 amid Progressive Era reforms, aimed to curb corruption in state legislatures and enhance democratic representation by allowing direct public election of Senators.
Replies
Repeal it. The states are supposed to have representation. Suck the air out of the dc beast.
There's a few more that need to be repealed also.
Explain how it would be better if they were appointed.
I believe the thinking is that if the Governors can appoint a Senator and most of the States are Red, then the Republicans will always control the Senate until the State turns Blue.
Knowing the Republicans as well as I do, most of the Red State governors will appoint Democrats if they promise to be good!
......while no democrat governor EVER appoint a Republican!
I don't trust any governor, rather take my chances with the voting public.....especially if the state is red .
The Dems made sure our system stays screwed up. They thrive on chaos.
The problem is there's no honor among politicians.
Originally, Citizens voted for the Reps and those Reps voted for the Senators of their states. Ohio Reps voted for their Ohio Senators.
Then we strayed from the Constitution. They began using the direct popular election to vote for Senators and the 17th was installed.
The Founder's concept was that the states themselves needed representation to D.C., just like the citizens need representation.
Further, each citizen was due an apportionment, making his/her vote equal to other individual votes across the country, the safeguard against democracy, with the analogy of being 'mob rule.'
From least to largest, all counted as the same value. Gone. The idea originally, was that the states should have a (More) direct influence on federal law, acting as Ambassadors for their state, plus to directly protect state sovereignty against federal overreach. So, to protect small farming, the Senators would be directly responsible to the state to do exactly that...........
Since the smallest number of citizens per Rep is Wyoming, with 581,381 citizens (2020). The largest number of citizizens per Rep is Delaware, with 989,948 citizens. So, a Wyoming citizen's vote is worth much more than a citizen in Delaware. This means that in truth, some votes are so diluted by numbers, that they barely count at all. 1/30,000 vs 1/989,948. They do not add, subtract, or divide the same., Never have, never will.
The Electoral College only applies to the Presidential election, not to state representation overall. State direct elections was supposed to be the balancing act that they, the Founders gave us. One for the people and one for the state. That balancing act was also a check point, and is now gone.
So now, they the Representatives, go to DC, are supposed to represent both We the People AND the state. It's a twist that dilutes accountability and responsibility.
And the number they came up with—435 for the number of Reps, is also nowhere in the Constitution, so it was an invention. My, how they do whatever they feel like. Somehow, I trust the Founders more than anyone in Congress...