Congressional Power: Amending The Constitution

The process of amending the US Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. The process of amending the Constitution is challenging, as the framers intended for it to endure for a long time. The Constitution has only been amended 27 times since it was first drafted in 1787. Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by either three-fourths of the state legislatures or by ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states. The authority to amend the Constitution and the mode of ratification are both vested in Congress.

Explore related products

American Constitutional Law, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments

$103.26 $150

The Democracy Amendments: Constitutional Reforms to Save the United States

$13.6 $19.99

The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence

$1.99 $6.95

The Constitution of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights

$9.99 $9.99

The People’s Constitution: 200 Years, 27 Amendments, and the Promise of a More Perfect Union

$18.34 $45

The First Amendment: [Connected Ebook] (Aspen Casebook) (Aspen Casebook Series)

$326 $326

Congress proposes an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate

The United States Constitution was written to be a durable document that would "endure for ages to come". As a result, the process of amending it is deliberately difficult and time-consuming. The Constitution has only been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, and none of these amendments have been proposed by a constitutional convention.

Once an amendment has been proposed by Congress, it must then be ratified. There are two methods of ratification, as determined by Congress: the legislatures of three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50) must ratify the amendment, or ratifying conventions in three-quarters of the states must approve it. This second method has only been used once in American history, for the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment establishing Prohibition.

The process of amending the Constitution is a complex and challenging task, designed to ensure the longevity and stability of the document.

The Archivist of the United States administers the ratification process

The Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process of constitutional amendments. The Archivist, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), assumes this duty under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 106b. Notably, neither Article V of the Constitution nor section 106b outlines the ratification process in detail.

Once Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution, the original document is sent to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR then prepares an information package for the States, which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification. The Archivist then submits the proposed amendment to the States by sending a letter of notification to each Governor, along with the informational material prepared by the OFR.

When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The OFR examines these ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and authenticating signatures. If the documents are in order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them until an amendment is adopted or fails.

Once the OFR verifies that it has received the required number of authenticated ratification documents, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the Nation that the amendment process is complete. The Archivist's certification of the facial legal sufficiency of ratification documents is final and conclusive.

The Archivist of the United States plays a crucial role in upholding the integrity of the constitutional amendment process, ensuring that any changes to the Constitution are carried out in accordance with the law.

State legislatures can ask Congress to call a Constitutional Convention

The United States Constitution was written to endure for ages, and the framers made amending the document a difficult task. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since it was drafted in 1787. The authority to amend the Constitution of the United States is derived from Article V of the Constitution. The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.

The Article V convention method has never been used; however, 33 amendments have been proposed by the other method, a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, and 27 of these have been ratified by three-fourths of the States. Although there has never been a federal constitutional convention since the original one, at the state level, more than 230 constitutional conventions have assembled in the United States.

The first proposal for a method of amending the Constitution offered in the Constitutional Convention, contained in the Virginia Plan, sought to circumvent the national legislature, stating that "the assent of the National Legislature ought not to be required." This was subsequently modified by the Committee of Detail to include a process whereby Congress would call for a constitutional convention on the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures. During the debate on the Committee of Detail's report, James Madison expressed concern about the lack of detail in the article regarding how the convention amendment process would work, stating that "difficulties might arise as to the form" a convention would take.

There is an ongoing debate about whether Congress must call a convention upon the request of two-thirds of the states. Article V states that Congress shall call a Convention when enough states have applied for one. Some of the Constitution's Framers, concerned that Congress would block amendments favorable to the states, argued that this language would obligate Congress to call for a convention after receiving the requisite number of state requests.

Explore related products

American Constitutional Law: Introductory Essays and Selected Cases

$140

The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic

$16.71 $26.99

A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy

$12.65 $27.95

A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments

$34.65 $45

The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution

$16.69 $17.95

The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

$21.74 $28.95

A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution when ratified by three-fourths of the States

The process of amending the Constitution of the United States is laid out in Article V of the Constitution. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, and the process is deliberately challenging.

The first step in the process is for Congress to propose an amendment, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The President does not have a constitutional role in this process. Once Congress has proposed an amendment, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for administering the ratification process.

The Archivist of the United States does not make any substantive determinations regarding the validity of State ratification actions. However, the certification of the facial legal sufficiency of ratification documents by the Archivist is final and conclusive. Once the required number of authenticated ratification documents is received, the Archivist drafts a formal proclamation certifying that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the Nation that the amendment process is complete.

Article V lays out procedures for amending the Constitution

Article V of the U.S. Constitution lays out the procedures for amending the Constitution. It establishes two methods for proposing amendments to the Constitution. The first method involves Congress proposing an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is done in the form of a joint resolution. The second method involves a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. However, this method has never been used to propose any of the 27 amendments to the Constitution.

Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified to become part of the Constitution. Ratification can be achieved through one of two methods, as determined by Congress. The first method requires the legislatures of three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50 states) to ratify the amendment. The second method involves ratifying conventions conducted in three-quarters of the states, which has only been used once in American history for the Twenty-First Amendment. The vote of each state in the ratification process carries equal weight, regardless of population or length of time in the Union.

Article V also includes certain limitations and protections. It shields three clauses in Article One from ordinary amendment by attaching stipulations. The first two clauses, concerning the importation of slaves and the apportionment of direct taxes, had prohibitions on amendment that expired in 1808. The third clause, which remains in effect, states that no state shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate without its consent. There is debate among scholars regarding whether this shielding clause can be amended using the procedures outlined in Article V.

While Article V provides the procedures for amending the Constitution, it does not explicitly address whether those procedures can be used to amend Article V itself. Law professor George Mader argues that the amending procedures can be amended, and there have been numerous proposals to do so. However, Article V has never been amended. Additionally, Article V does not specify deadlines for the ratification of proposed amendments, but most amendments since 1917 have included a deadline.

Frequently asked questions