Tea Party Wants to Dump 17th Amendment?

Written By: Joe Wolverton, II  |  Posted: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

There is a sizable bloc of Tea Party supporters calling for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 17th Amendment establishes direct, popular election of U.S. Senators, superseding Article 1, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 which empowered state legislatures to elect senators. The relevant parts of Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution reads: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof...."

The 17th Amendment altered the language to read: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof...." By substituting the words "elected" and "people" for "chosen" and "legislature, " the 17th Amendment significantly shifted the delicate balance of power between state and national government. The drafters of the Constitution as composed in 1787, considered this balance fundamental to the perpetuation of our new republic. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote often in The Federalist of the sacred sovereignty of the states. In Federalist No. 39, he wrote, "Each state, in ratifying the constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act."

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