Article V:

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article V establishes two methods for proposing amendments to the Constitution.1 The first method requires both the House and Senate to propose a constitutional amendment by a vote of two-thirds of the Members present.2 Since the Founding, Congress has followed this procedure to propose thirty-three constitutional amendments, which were sent to the states for potential ratification.3 The states ratified twenty-seven of these amendments.4

Alternatively, Article V provides that Congress “shall” call a convention for proposing amendments upon the request of two-thirds of the states.5 This method of proposing amendments has never been used.6 Scholars continue to debate issues surrounding these Article V conventions, including: (1) whether Congress must call a convention upon receiving the requisite number of state applications; (2) whether the convention can be limited in any way (the “runaway convention” debate); and (3) Congress’s control over other aspects of a convention (e.g., rules of procedure).7

Footnotes

1

U.S. Const. art. V ( “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments. . ..” ).

2

Id.; Nat’l Prohibition Cases, 253 U.S. 350, 386 (1920) ( “The two-thirds vote in each house which is required in proposing an amendment is a vote of two-thirds of the members present—assuming the presence of a quorum—and not a vote of two-thirds of the entire membership, present and absent.” ).

3

For a list of constitutional amendments that Congress proposed but the states did not ratify, see Intro.3.7 Proposed Amendments Not Ratified by the States. At least 11,000 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress, but were not approved by the two-thirds majority in each house required for submission to the states for ratification. U.S. Senate: Measures Proposed to Amend the Constitution, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/MeasuresProposedToAmendTheConstitution.htm.

4

See Intro.3.1 Ratification of Amendments to the Constitution Generally.

5

U.S. Const. art. V.

6

See ArtV.3.3 Proposals of Amendments by Convention.

7

See ArtV.3.3 Proposals of Amendments by Convention.