Help me out: American Civics 101: Does Congress vote on constitutional amendments?

[NewsCenter28]

My understanding from Google, which is confusing on this topic, is that 38/50 of States are required to ratify and Congressional approval is not required if 38/50 states ratify an amendment. Is this state approval done by a simple majority vote in the state legislatures or is a 2/3 majority required in the state house and state senate? Can Governors veto constitutional ammendments? Presumably; they can’t since a President cannot?

Google seems to suggest Congress’s only role is to introduce an amendment for ratification? That it moves so that states don’t embarrass it by acting first, but that is their only role. That can’t be correct can it? I imagine 38/50 states and 2/3 of the US House and Senate must be required?

[Sophia4]

1. Per Google and the National Archives:

The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the 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. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The OFR also assembles an information package for the States which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies of the joint resolution in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification under 1 U.S.C. 106b.

The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the OFR. The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures or the state calls for a convention, depending on what Congress has specified. In the past, some State legislatures have not waited to receive official notice before taking action on a proposed amendment. 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 ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are found to be in good order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them. The OFR retains these documents until an amendment is adopted or fails, and then transfers the records to the National Archives for preservation.

A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). When 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 and serves as official notice to the Congress and to the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution

[NewsCenter28]

3. Yeah and I just read article V

Basically, the GOP just needs to pick up 6 more state legislatures and then they can make Trump Emperor for life. If they even want to do it a constitutional way.

[unblock]

2. remember that congress is a creation of the constitution, which was ratified by the states.

it makes sense that the job of amending the constitution fall on the states -- three-fourths of them.

congress can only propose constitutional amendment -- two-thirds of each house. but ratification is up to the states.

amendments can also be proposed at a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. that has never happened, but there is a push for this and we are only a few states away. in any event, any amendment proposed there would still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

[NewsCenter28]

4. And therein lies the key to unlocking a fascist dictatorship

Horrible lack of foresight and insight by the ‘founding fathers.’

[unblock]

5. i don't think we can blame them for allowing amendments by 75% of the states.

in other contexts (like the electoral college) we are annoyed by how hard it is to amend the constitution.

[Igel]

6. Just google the US Constitution.

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.

2/3 of both houses of congress.
2/3 of the states may apply to force Congress to call a convention to propose amendments. That's 34 states.

Ratification is by 3/4 of the states or by conventions held in those states, depending on what Congress requires. That's 38 states.

Ruled out: Any amendment before 1808 can effect certain parts of the constitution (a point of historical interest only now); and any state losing equal voting votes in the Senate as the result of an amendment needs to give its consent.

It's always best to look at the original, primary sources, not just secondary sources. The caveat is that if it's not in your native language, you need a translation if you don't speak the original language. The real caveat here is that there's 230 years between the language of a 30-year-old and that of those who wrote the Constitution, and that in itself can require a translator: Languages change, and often the same words and grammar are in both varieties but have different meanings. In this case, though, most of the words carry on just fine (although we find the syntax contorted, it's simply classical and assumes a different purpose for punctuation--just read it out loud and pause where it feels right). "Convention" has changed its meaning in several ways, but that can be recovered from the phrase "constitutional convention" just fine. "Amendment" just means "change," although we tend to think of amendments primarily as that list of changes.