Wednesday: Law & Civics
How many votes in Congress do you need to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
To propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution you need two-thirds majority in both houses.
Amending the U.S. Constitution is a rigorous process designed to ensure that changes reflect broad national consensus.
To propose an amendment, Congress must achieve a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Alternatively, two-thirds of state legislatures can call for a Constitutional Convention, though this method has never been used.
Once an amendment is proposed, it must then be ratified by three-fourths (or 38 out of 50) of the state legislatures or by state ratifying conventions.
This high threshold ensures that constitutional changes are deliberate and widely supported, preventing frequent or impulsive alterations to the nation's foundational laws.
