Philip Blumel: The pardoning of a term limit scofflaw. Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms, the official podcast of the Term Limits Movement. This is episode 276, published on December 8th, 2025.
Stacey Selleck: Your sanctuary from partisan politics.
Philip Blumel: In the last episode, we discussed a term limits foe being indicted. Well, unfortunately, in this episode, we’re going to be talking about a term limits foe walking free. When, on December 1st, President Trump announced the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022, he did not only pardon a convicted drug trafficker but also a notorious wannabe dictator who overturned presidential term limits in his country. President Hernandez was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison, a term he was serving in a U.S. Federal prison in Florida. President Hernandez walked out of prison a few days after the pardon. Now, Honduras is a country with a long history of military coups in a region of the world where tenuous democracies are regularly challenged by populist dictatorships. For this reason, Honduras’ 1982 constitution, in Article 239, originally banned consecutive presidential terms. After four years, the president legally has to relinquish power. Hernandez was first elected in 2013, so he faced a term limit in 2017. As an authoritarian who was enriching himself via the drug trade, Hernandez had no interest in giving up power. Instead, he packed the Supreme Court of Honduras with cronies, which sided with Hernandez in a 4-1 decision in 2015 to overturn the term limits. Apparently, the constitutional term limits were unconstitutional. Who knew?
Philip Blumel: Well, this led to the 2017 re-election, amid widespread fraud allegations and violent protests in which 30 people died. The constitutional coup and fake election led to condemnation from the Organization of American States, the OAS, and the United Nations. And in the United States, Congressmember Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, called for halting U.S. Aid to Honduras until election fraud and the term limits violations were addressed. Representative Schakowsky was joined by over 80 congressional colleagues of both parties in a letter urging this investigation. One example is Representative Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, who demanded that the U.S. refuse to recognize the election results without a full OAS audit and called the Supreme Court ruling a coup-like maneuver. At the end of the day, though, the Obama and Trump administrations explicitly prioritized stability and the cooperation in the drug war over governance critiques. Hernandez served until 2022, but then he was sentenced to 45 years in a Florida prison in 2024, of which he served about a year and a half until his pardon. Of course, politicians hate term limits and, indeed, any limitations on their power.
Philip Blumel: We see this across the globe: Russia, China, Venezuela, and even in the U.S. Congress. And this wasn’t the first time a wannabe dictator tried to overturn Honduran term limits either. Like his mentor Hugo Chavez had successfully done in Venezuela, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya tried to overturn presidential term limits with a fraudulent referendum. While the president has no power under Honduran law to hold a national referendum to make constitutional changes, the president announced he would do so anyway. And when the nation’s army chief, General Romeo Vazquez, refused to distribute the ballots for the illegal election, he was fired. And when the Honduran Supreme Court, pre-Hernandez, mandated the reinstatement of Vazquez, Zelaya refused. So the army put down Zelaya’s attempted coup with a coup of its own, and Zelaya fled to Costa Rica in 2009. Fortunately, since then, the military has stepped down and elections resumed. In the United States, we view term limits as a good government reform that empowers citizens relative to public officials. To view term limits so casually is a luxury of our stable democracy. In other parts of the world, term limits are one of the last safeguards against tyranny.
Speaker 3: This is a public service announcement!
Philip Blumel: Twelve states have so far officially applied for an amendment proposing convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution that would be limited to the subject of congressional term limits. Indiana joined this group of 12 in 2025, along with South Carolina and South Dakota, and that was before two political heavyweights officially joined the cause. Here, Mike Speedy, U.S. Term limits chair for Indiana, welcomes them aboard in a new video.
Mike Speedy: Hey, Mike Speedy here coming to you from the State House After Hours. I’m the Indiana U.S. Term Limits Chairman. I’m wanting to thank and congratulate co-national chairman, former U.S. Representative David Trone of Maryland and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. As you can see, federal term limits is a bipartisan effort. It is supported by over 80% of those who vote. Why? Because they understand that the founders never intended there to be a political class or career politicians who put their career above their constituents. Here in Indiana, we’ve had a good year. We are now part of 12 states calling for a constitutional convention solely for the purpose of federal term limits. As we approach 34 states, Congress will step up and call the convention themselves. Federal term limits will return our federal government to the people and to the states. Other career politicians pass bad laws that hurt our own state. It is why I will continue to support federal term limits. Again, congratulations to the new national co-chairman, Representative Trone and Governor DeSantis. Take care.
Philip Blumel: Speaking of Representative David Trone, he led a panel discussion last week at the National Constitutional Center in Center City, Philadelphia. He shared the stage with fellow Democrats State Representative Regina Young, State Representative Jared Solomon, the sponsor of the term limits convention resolution in Pennsylvania, and also former State Senator Andrew Dineman, who is now the Pennsylvania co-chair for U.S. Term Limits. Now, while U.S. Term Limits is and always will be strictly nonpartisan, this particular event was decidedly tilted towards one side of the aisle. This is in fact the power of having two big political names, both representing different parties, join the cause. The panel explained what brought them to term limits and the strategies to get the term limits convention resolution over the finish line in Pennsylvania. Former Congressman David Trone, probably best known as co-founder and co-owner of Total Wine and More, can open doors on the Democratic side, while Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida can help open doors on the Republican side. So, in both red and blue states respectively, you can see the power of having these two gentlemen join the fight. Now, in purple states, we often have both Democratic and Republican co-chairs at the state level, and Pennsylvania is one of those purple states. In that spirit, there was an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2020 that was co-authored by U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican, and former Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Democrat. In fact, this came up at the panel discussion and the moderator of the event, Cesar Chavez, a former state representative from Arizona, quoted from it, and so will I. Quote: “Our elected representatives seem afraid to do anything that would jeopardize their re-election. Term limits allow them to operate without that pressure, secure in the knowledge that they are not risking the position that could be a lifetime career. They would be able to cast votes knowing that the risk they are taking would not jeopardize their entire future.” This inspired David Trone to make some moving comments about how term limits could inspire courage in the U.S. Congress, something he didn’t see a lot of when he served in that body. We’ll be posting highlight videos of the event on the U.S. Term Limits YouTube channel this week, and surely we’ll repackage our favorite or favorites as a public service announcement on upcoming podcasts. Thanks to everyone who participated in the event.
Philip Blumel: Next, besides new co-chairs, there’s something else new at U.S. Term Limits you probably noticed already: our website, termlimits.com. The website has been revamped from top to bottom to be more user-friendly. This site was getting so packed with info and activist tools that it was getting crowded and complicated. No more. It also looks much different, as the revamp coincides with our rebranding. U.S. Term Limits has used some version of the same imagery since our founding back in 1991. No more. From the color scheme to our logo, everything is new. At U.S. Term Limits, we’re setting the table for the explosion of momentum, which has already begun. Check it out, and share the link with a friend, family member, or associate, and urge them to sign the Citizen Petition. You’ll see a link to the Citizen Petition at the top right of the new landing page. So that’s termlimits.com. Another change we’ve made pertains to this podcast. We’re also running a video promo for each episode in which I tease to our current top story. For instance, the next one, which will come out in about a week after this podcast is posted, will talk about the pardon of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, cocaine dealer and term limit scofflaw. You’ll find that on your social media feed or at the U.S. Term Limits YouTube page. Upward and onward. Thanks for all your help in making this possible.
Stacey Selleck: Like the show? You can help by subscribing and leaving a five-star review on both Apple and Spotify. It’s free!
Philip Blumel: Thanks for joining us for another episode of No Uncertain Terms. The term limits convention bills are moving through the state legislatures. This could be a breakthrough year for the term limits movement. To check on the status of the term limits convention resolution in your state, go to termlimits.com/takeaction. There, you will see if it has been introduced and where it stands in the committee process on its way to the floor vote. If there’s action to take, you’ll see a take action button by your state. Click it. This will give you the opportunity to send a message to the most relevant legislators urging them to support the legislation. They have to know you’re watching. That’s termlimits.com/takeaction. If your state has already passed the term limits convention resolution or the bill has not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US term limits. It is our aim to hit the reset button on the US Congress, and you can help. Go to termlimits.com/donate. Termlimits.com/donate. Thanks. We’ll be back next week.
Stacey Selleck: Find us on most social media at US term limits. Like us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and now LinkedIn.
