Republicans will have control of the U.S. House and Senate starting in January, when President-elect Donald Trump also takes office.
Wiener said the incoming Republican-led U.S. Congress could set a constitutional convention — or convening to rewrite the language of the Constitution — in motion based on outstanding calls from states like California, which could impact reproductive, voting or LGBTQ+ rights.
“There's a risk that a right-wing Congress could decide that a constitutional convention has been convened, and then we would have a right-wing Congress setting the rules for how delegates are selected and what the ground rules are for the convention,” he said.
To try to prevent that, he recently filed a new resolution to rescind the state’s previous calls for a convention, saying the rules around federal constitutional conventions aren’t clear, and California’s outstanding calls could have unintended outcomes.
Berkeley Law California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo said Wiener’s concern isn’t unfounded.
“This has never been done before, and there's almost no law on this,” he said.
Federal lawmakers can make changes to the Constitution through a convention, as long as at least 34 states call for it. State legislatures would still need to approve those changes.
Carrillo said that there could already be enough calls from states to justify a convention, depending on how they’re counted.
“This is a little bit like trying to redo the foundation of your house while you're still living in it,” he said. “Maybe that goes really well, or maybe the roof falls down on your head.”
Carrillo said that it’s not clear if a call for a convention can be fully rescinded. Other states, including New York and Illinois, have already voted to rescind theirs.
Wiener said the state has seven outstanding calls for a convention. Just last year, Governor Gavin Newsom called for one to address federal gun policy.
Some Republican lawmakers, most prominently Republican U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington from Texas, have called for a constitutional convention in recent years.
