We, the people of the
Article I
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested
in a Congress of the
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of
members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the
elector in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not
have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a Citizen of
the
3. Representatives
and direct taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting
of the Congress of the
4. When vacancies happen in the
representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue
writs of election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
1. The Senate of the
2. Immediately
after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall
be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators
of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of
the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class
at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the
recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall
then fill such vacancies.
3. No person shall be a Senator
who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a
Citizen of the
4. The Vice-President of the
5. The Senate shall choose
their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of the President of the
6. The Senate shall have the
sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall
be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the
7. Judgment in cases of
impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under
the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
1. The times, places and manner of holding elections
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such
regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
2. The Congress shall assemble
at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they by law
appoint a different day.
1. Each House shall be the
judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may
provide.
2. Each House may determine the
rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with
the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
3. Each House shall keep a
journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting
such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of
the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth
of those present, be entered on the journal.
4. Neither House, during the
session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more
than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall
be sitting.
1. The Senators and
Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be
ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
2. No Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil
office under the authority of the United States, which shall have increased
during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States,
shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.
1. All bills for raising
revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
2. Every bill which shall have
passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
law, be presented to the president of the United States; if he approve, he
shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that
house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large
on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration,
two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent,
together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a
law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas
and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be
entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the president within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall
have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in
which case it shall not be a law.
3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the
concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except
on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the president of the United
States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or,
being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of the Senate and
House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in
the case of a bill.
The Congress shall have the power
1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the
2. To borrow money on the credit of the
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and
among the several states, and with the Indian tribes:
4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the
7. To establish post-offices and post-roads:
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts,
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries:
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme
court:
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies
committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
13. To provide and maintain a navy:
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of
the land and naval forces:
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to
execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions:
16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining
the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the
service of the
17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by
cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat
of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and
other needful buildings: And,
18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers
vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, or in any
department or officer thereof.
1. The migration or importation of such persons as any
of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on
such importations, not exceeding 10 dollars for each person.
2. The privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or
invasion the public safety may require it.
3. No bill of attainder or ex
post facto law shall be passed.
4. No
capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the
census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
5. No tax or duty shall be laid
on articles exported from any state.
6. No preference shall be given
by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those
of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from one state, be obliged to enter,
clear, or pay duties in another.
7. No money shall be drawn from
the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money
shall be published from time to time.
8. No title of nobility shall
be granted by the
1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of
credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation
of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
2. No state shall, without the consent of the
Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of
all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for
the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
3. No state shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter
into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in a war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will
not admit of delay.
Article II
1. The Executive power shall be
vested in a President of the
2. Each
State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature may direct, a number of
electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which
the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or
person holding an office of trust or profit under the
3. The Congress may determine
the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the
4. No person except a natural
born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of
this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall
any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.
5 . In case of the removal of the President from office, or of
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the
said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may
by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both
of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as
President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be
removed, or a President shall be elected.
6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for
his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not
receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any
of them.
7. Before he enter on the
execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:
1. The President shall be
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the
militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the
United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer
in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties
of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
2. He shall have power, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided
two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise
provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by
law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in
the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
3. The President shall have the
power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate,
by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of
disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he may receive ambassadors,
and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
The President, Vice President, and all civil officers
of the
Article III
The judicial power of the
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law
and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made under their authority; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more states, between a
state and Citizens of another state, between Citizens of different states,
between Citizens of the same state, claiming lands under grants of different
states, and between a state, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign states, Citizens
or subjects.
2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme
court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases
before-mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the
Congress shall make.
3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of
impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where
the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law
have directed.
1. Treason against the
2. The Congress shall have power to declare the
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of
blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to
the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the
Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
1. The Citizens of each state shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of Citizens in the several states.
2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony,
or other crime, who shall flee justice, and be found in another state, shall,
on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be
delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
3. No person held to service or labor in one state,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law
or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
1. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this
union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of
any other state, nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,
without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of
the Congress.
2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property
belonging to the
The United States shall guarantee to every state in
this union, a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive
(when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.
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 1808, 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 VI
1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption
of this constitution, shall be as valid against the
2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under
the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land; and
the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution
or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
3. The senators and representatives before-mentioned, and the members of
the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both
of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation, to support this constitution; but no religious test shall ever be
required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United
States.
Article VII
The ratification of the conventions of nine states,
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the
states so ratifying the same.
Amendments
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the
security of a
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia,
when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor
shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause
of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defense.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and
no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
The powers not delegated to the
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
The judicial power of the
This Amendment altered Article
2 Section 1 Part 2. Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified
July 27, 1804.
1. The Electors shall meet in their respective States
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least,
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name
in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which
lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; - The person
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no
person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation
from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the
States shall be necessary to a choice. And
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right
of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next
following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the
death or other constitutional disability of the President.
3. The person having the greatest number of votes as
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such numbers be a majority of
the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the
Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the
whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary
to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
exist within the
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868
1. All persons born or naturalized in the
2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the
several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number
of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and
Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive
and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for
participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such
State.
3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in
Congress, or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil
or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
4. The validity of the public debt of the
5. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Passed by Congress February 26,
1869. Ratified
February 3, 1870.
1. The right of citizens of the
2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes
on incomes, from whatever sources derived, without apportionment among the
several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
1. The Senate of the
2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any
State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any State
may empower the Executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct.
3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to
affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as
part of the Constitution.
Passed by Congress December 18,
1917. Ratified
January 16, 1919.
1. After one year from the ratification of this
article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors
within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the
2. The Congress and the several States shall have
concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of
the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from
the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
1. The right of citizens of the
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
This Amendment altered Article
1 Section 4 Part 2 and Article
2 Section 1 Part5. Passed by Congress March 2,
1932. Ratified January 23, 1933
1. The terms of the President and the Vice-President
shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and
Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such
terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of
their successors shall then begin.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless
they shall by law appoint a different day.
3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term
of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice-President elect
shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the
time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have
failed to qualify, then the Vice-President elect shall act as President until a
President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the
case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice-President shall have
qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which
one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly
until a President or Vice-President shall have qualified.
4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the
death of any of the persons from whom the House of representatives may choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for
the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a
Vice-President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day
of October following the ratification of this article (October 1933).
6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its
submission.
Passed by Congress February 20,
1933. Ratified
December 5, 1933.
1. The Eighteenth
article of amendment to the Constitution of the
2. The transportation or importation into any State,
Territory, or Possession of the
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the
several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the
date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
1. No person shall be elected to the office of the
President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President,
or acted as President, for more that two years of a term to which some other
person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more
than once.
2. But this Article shall not apply to any person
holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and
shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or
acting as President, during the term the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its
submission to the States by the Congress.
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
1. The District constituting the seat of Government of
the
2. A number of electors of President and Vice
President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress
to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event
more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those
appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the
election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State;
and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the
twelfth article of amendment.
3. The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
This Amendment altered Article
1 Section 2 Part 3. Passed by Congress August
27, 1962. Ratified January 23,1964.
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress,
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of
failure to pay poll tax or any other tax.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
This Amendment altered Article
2 Section 1 Part 5. Passed by Congress July 6,
1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
1. In case of the removal of the President from office
or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the
Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take
the office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress
3. Whenever the President transmits to the President
Pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his
written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary,
such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting
President.
4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of
either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other
body as Congress may by law provide, transmits to the President Pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of
his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties
of the office as Acting President.
5. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the
President Pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall
resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of
such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits within four days to
the President Pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide
the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in
session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter
written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days
after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both
houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his
office.
This Amendment altered Article
1 Section 9 Part 4. Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified
June 30, 1971.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or any state on account of age.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
This Amendment altered Article
1 Section 3 Part 1 and Article
1 Section 3 Part 2. Passed by Congress
September 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for services of the
Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened.