The effort to limit the power of the federal government through a new Article V constitutional convention gained a powerful ally on Monday, as former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina officially became a senior adviser to the Convention of States Project.

In a statement issued by the organization, DeMint called Article V the “only solution” to a broken system that “will never fix itself.”

“I tried to rein in Washington from the House and Senate, but once I realized that Washington will never willingly return decision-making power back to the American people and the states, I began to search for another way to restrain the federal government,” said DeMint.

“I am excited to get outside the Beltway and work with the grassroots of the Convention of States Project to continue the fight I started almost two decades ago.”

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DeMint represented South Carolina in the Senate from 2005 to 2013 before resigning to become president of the well-known conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.

DeMint’s contentious departure from the organization was blamed by some critics on his inability to reconcile Heritage’s scholarly reputation with the need to win practical political victories on Capitol Hill.

Demint’s new role with the Convention of States Project suggests he is urging the conservative movement to adopt an entirely new strategy to limit the power and authority of the federal government. Article V of the U.S. Constitution states the Constitution may be amended if two-thirds of the state legislatures apply to Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments. To date, 12 states out of the 34 required have passed such resolutions.

DeMint joins fellow former senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who wrote "Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop America's Runaway Government" to describe the effort to restore constitutional government to the United States.

Just as DeMint suggested, Coburn believes the Article V solution is necessary because the federal government is completely incapable of restricting its own power by its very nature. In a recent appearance on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Coburn asked rhetorically, “Do we expect the elites in Washington to do what’s best in the long term for their country, when, in fact, their real conflict is doing what’s best for their political career?”

Are you tired of D.C. elitists looking out only for their own interests? The federal government will never willingly relinquish the powers it has usurped -- it's up to We the People to wrest control from an overreaching federal leviathan and give it back to our state and local representatives where it belongs. Retired Sen. Tom Coburn reveals how it can be done in "Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop America's Runaway Government," available now at the WND Superstore.

The comments of DeMint and Coburn suggest there is increasing awareness such dramatic solutions are the only way to stop the out-of-control growth of government debt. The U.S. national debt is now approaching $20 trillion, and Coburn recently noted on the “Morning Joe” television program on MSNBC “the average millennial is going to have to pay back $1.7 million over the next 50 years.” However, because politicians are motivated to push the costs of programs onto future generations, it is almost impossible for public officials looking to the next election to do something about the problem without sabotaging their own political careers.

Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Convention of States project, hailed DeMint joining the effort as an important step toward the desperately needed fundamental reforms the Founding Fathers would have wanted.

“The slow creep of waste, fraud, abuse and selfish interests, along with unfathomable debt, has made citizens frustrated with all branches and departments of the federal government,” he said. “The Convention of States is the constitutional, viable solution the Founders gave us for exactly this moment.”

DeMint has also said the Article V movement provides a way for tea-party activists, frustrated by the unwillingness of the Republican Congress to make meaningful cuts in the size of the federal government, to finally achieve substantial results. Calling for a “new mission,” DeMint told USA Today that tea-party activists are turning to Article V because “all the work they did in 2010 has not resulted in all the things they hoped for.”

DeMint also declared it is the “perfect time” for such a radical devolution movement.

Conservative Review reports DeMint will be lobbying the North Carolina legislature as part of his first effort with the Convention of States Project, hoping to make the Tar Heel State the 13th to join the campaign.

DeMint and Coburn join an impressive list of conservative heavyweights claimed by the Convention of States Project as supporters, including Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, economist Thomas Sowell, Sheriff David Clarke, Lt. Bill Cowan, historian David Barton, Ben Carson, Ken Cuccinelli, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ron Johnson, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan, former Gov. Jeb Bush, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Gov. Sarah Palin, Gov. John Kasich, former Gov. Bobby Jindal, Gov. Greg Abbot and former Rep. Allen West. Mark Levin has called the effort “the biggest story in the country,” expressing amazement that it largely has been ignored by establishment media.

Despite the growing number of activists and endorsers, the Convention of States project still has a number of hurdles to overcome, as it is not even half way to the number of state endorsements needed to be successful. But DeMint's and Coburn’s efforts are unprecedented. If they are successful, it will mark the first time in American history the Constitution will ever be changed in this way.

Are you tired of D.C. elitists looking out only for their own interests? The federal government will never willingly relinquish the powers it has usurped -- it's up to We the People to wrest control from an overreaching federal leviathan and give it back to our state and local representatives where it belongs.



Retired U.S. Senator Tom Coburn reveals how we can do that in "Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop America's Runaway Government," available now at the WND Superstore.