MAGA Government Official in Arizona Advocates Repealing the 17th Amendment

This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now. 

As if it was not enough that we are being bombarded from all directions with constant and relentless reminders that millions upon millions of Americans seem to want a dictatorship, we have high-profile and high-ranking members of government continually pushing forth outright fascist ideas. Because in the United States in 2026, they are doing all of this in broad daylight, not even hiding it anymore. We see one prominent politician after another trying to take power away from the people, to choose their voters, and not the other way around.

Here is the latest story which just made me shake my head in disgust. 

In Arizona (surprise, surprise), a Republican who is MAGA-aligned (surprise, surprise) has outright introduced a bill to try and get Congress to repeal the 17th Amendment, so that "We the people" would lose the ability to vote for members of Congress in direct elections. Instead, it would be state legislatures who would appoint members of Congress.

Here's a snippet from an article by Phillip Kolb of MSN (see link below):

MAGA-aligned Arizona State Representative Khyl Powell (R), a member of its House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, last week introduced a concurrent memorial (HCM 2010) which urges the U.S. Congress to repeal the 17th Amendment and return U.S. Senator selection to state legislatures instead of allowing citizens to vote for them in direct elections.

For now, it seems not to have gained traction.

But if recent history is any indication, that does not mean that it will be permanently shelved, even if it does not succeed (for now). 

Apparently, according to the article, one unnamed Democrat pretty much summed up the reason why MAGA would pursue this:

One Democrat replied to De Los Santos: “I would bet anything they would want to do this because it is easy to gerrymander US House districts, but they can’t gerrymander state wide elections for senators.”

That pretty much sums it up.

What times we live in.

Below is the link to the article I used in writing this particular blog entry. Take a look:

Arizona House Republican proposes repealing 17th Amendment, "They want to ban people from voting for senators" Story by Phillip Kolb • January 29, 2026 • 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/arizona-house-republican-proposes-repealing-17th-amendment-they-want-to-ban-people-from-voting-for-senators/ar-AA1VgrGN?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=697c4cc2a4964ed893c63611d3368ff9&ei=29

Arizona House Republican proposes repealing 17th Amendment, "They want to ban people from voting for senators"