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submitted 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) by AfterOnions@lemmy.world to c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world

" Once approved by Congress, the joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment does not require presidential approval before it goes out to the states. While Article I Section 7 provides that all federal legislation must, before becoming Law, be presented to the president for his or her signature or veto, Article V provides no such requirement for constitutional amendments approved by Congress or by a federal convention. Thus, the president has no official function in the process.[b] In Hollingsworth v. Virginia (1798), the Supreme Court affirmed that it is not necessary to place constitutional amendments before the president for approval or veto.[10]"

If Democrats win control of the House and Senate what amendments would most likely be ratified by 38 states? We could have an amendment to increase the federal minimum wage and tie it to the cost of living or quality healthcare as a basic human right or ban political free speech protections for non-human legal entities or ban broad immunity for the president and allow the pardon power of the president to be blocked by The Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader.

What hypothetical amendments would have the most support?

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[-] ravenaspiring@sh.itjust.works 2 points 42 minutes ago

A couple that I've found

  1. Presidential Pardon Power and Immunity Reforms https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5088538-biden-calls-for-constitutional-amendment-on-presidential-immunity/

  2. Corporate Political Speech Restrictions https://www.movetoamend.org/motion

  3. Healthcare as a Righr https://usconstitution.net/constitutional-right-to-health-insurance/

From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/twelve-failed-constitutional-amendments-that-could-have-reshaped-american-history-180987425/

The United States Constitution had been in effect for little more than a year when Congress first moved to amend it. On September 25, 1789, the legislature sent a dozen proposed amendments to the then-13 states (soon to be 14) for ratification, as the law required. By December 15, 1791, the necessary three-fourths of states had ratified 10 of the 12 amendments, which collectively became known as the Bill of Rights.

Another 17 amendments have been ratified in the 234 years since, for a total of 27. But these measures represent just a tiny fraction of the amendments that have been proposed in Congress over the years—nearly 12,000 to date.

[-] dhork@lemmy.world 37 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

You need to look at it a bit differently: it's not that 38 states are needed to approve amendments, but rather that only 13 states are needed to block them. And Republicans have been very effective at electing politicians at the state level. Republicans have total control of 28 State Legislatures, and also hold the Governor's seat in 23 of them.

So, any amendment that manages to get through Congress (and the filibuster) will have to be approved by a bunch of these State Republicans. So pretty much any policy that that can be considered liberal will be DOA.

In fact, Democrats have more to worry about in the other direction. They only hold 18 State Legislatures, holding the Governor's seat in 16 of them. That is perilously close to the threshold of not being able to block amendments. If Democrats lose just a few more of those safe states, the the next time Republicans hold majorities in the House and Senate, they may be able to force amendments through that the blue states don't like.

(Source: https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition)

[-] AfterOnions@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

How many state legislatures will vote no against a higher federal minimum wage? How many state legislatures will vote no against banning corporate political free speech?

[-] Ledivin@lemmy.world 21 points 11 hours ago

The republicans are doing literally everything in their power to protect pedophiles and child sex traffickers. If raping and murdering 12-year old girls isn't too much for them, what makes you believe that republican-led states would agree to anything other than increasing their own power or wealth?

[-] dadarobot@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 10 hours ago

republican states have wealth?

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 7 points 10 hours ago

In very concentrated pockets.

[-] Visstix@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I don't think I should know the US constitution.

[-] Damarus@feddit.org 1 points 9 hours ago

Yeah not going there

[-] artifex@piefed.social 8 points 11 hours ago

I can’t think of a single thing that would garner such support. You could suggest an amendment that convicted child rapists couldn’t hold public office and there would be enough pushback that even that wouldn’t succeed.

[-] Limonene@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

A constitutional amendment requires 2/3 of both houses of the legislature, and ratification by the states. Passing a law with a veto-proof majority requires 2/3 of both houses. So I don't think a constitutional amendment is any easier.

[-] AfterOnions@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Or a simple majority in Congress and 2/3 of the state legislatures ratifying it.

[-] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 1 points 10 hours ago

It also allows the calling of a Convention to amend the constitution if only 2/3 of states make application for one, without approval of Congress.

this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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