Updated: November 3, 2026
Article V sets a two-step process for changing the Constitution. An amendment must first be proposed, either by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress or by a convention Congress must call after applications from two-thirds of state legislatures. It then needs approval from three-fourths of the states. Congress chooses whether states ratify through their legislatures or through state conventions; the president has no formal part in either step.
With 50 states, the proposal thresholds translate to 34 state legislatures for convention applications or two-thirds of the members voting in each congressional chamber. Ratification takes 38 states. Those are current counts, not numbers written into Article V: the Constitution states fractions, so the counts would change if the number of states changed.
| Stage | Who acts | Threshold | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional proposal | House and Senate | Two-thirds in each chamber | Proposes an amendment |
| Convention applications | State legislatures | 34 of 50 states | Requires Congress to call a convention |
| Convention proposal | Article V convention | No separate voting threshold stated in Article V | May propose amendments |
| Ratification | State legislatures or state conventions, as Congress specifies | 38 of 50 states | Makes a proposed amendment part of the Constitution |
- Two-thirds of the House and separately of the Senate is required for a congressional proposal.
- 34 states is two-thirds of the current 50 states, the application threshold for a convention call.
- 38 states is three-fourths of the current 50 states, the ratification threshold.
- One express limit protects each state’s equal suffrage in the Senate from removal without that state’s consent.
The Constitution’s text supplies the thresholds but not a detailed operating code for a proposing convention. The central distinction is simpler: proposal begins the process; ratification completes it.
What two routes can propose a constitutional amendment?
Article V provides two ways to put an amendment forward. Congress may propose one when two-thirds of the members voting in the House and two-thirds of the members voting in the Senate agree. Or, once two-thirds of state legislatures apply, Congress must call a convention for proposing amendments. With 50 states, that second threshold is 34 state legislatures.
- Congressional route: The House and Senate vote separately. A large combined vote across Congress cannot make up for missing the two-thirds mark in either chamber.
- Convention route: State legislatures submit applications, and Congress calls the convention after the constitutional threshold is reached. Applications are not amendments and do not themselves ratify anything.
Either route produces a proposal, not a change to the Constitution. The proposal still needs ratification by 38 states under the current 50-state count.
What does the two-thirds threshold mean in Congress?
The two-thirds requirement applies independently to the House and Senate. It is measured against members voting in each chamber, under the congressional voting rule used for constitutional amendments; it is not a single fraction of the combined membership. A simple majority in both chambers does not satisfy Article V.
Congressional passage also does not send an amendment to the president for signature. Article V names the House and Senate thresholds and the state ratification process, but does not assign the president a proposal, approval, or veto role. After Congress proposes an amendment, the states consider ratification under the method Congress selected.
Presidential approval is not part of the proposal vote
The Supreme Court addressed the president’s role in Hollingsworth v. Virginia (1798), treating an amendment proposal as distinct from ordinary legislation subject to presidential approval. The practical rule is that a proposed amendment does not go to the White House for a signature or veto; the next constitutional decision is ratification by the states.
How can state legislatures trigger a proposing convention?
State legislatures initiate this route by applying to Congress. Article V requires applications from two-thirds of the states; with 50 states, that means 34 legislatures. Once the threshold is met, the text says Congress “shall” call a convention for proposing amendments. The applications trigger the call; they do not themselves convene the meeting or set its agenda.
The threshold and what follows
Article V gives the application threshold and the requirement that Congress call a convention, but it does not spell out how applications must be worded, how Congress determines which applications count, or how delegates would be selected and instructed. Those are unresolved procedural questions, not additional thresholds written into Article V. Congress and the states would have to address them if the trigger were reached.
A convention under this route is a proposing body. Any amendment it proposes would still face the same three-fourths ratification requirement as an amendment proposed by Congress: 38 states under the current count. For current application totals and their status, check the records of state legislatures and Congress; Article V itself does not publish a running count.
How does ratification differ from proposing an amendment?
Proposal is the act of putting amendment language forward; ratification is the state approval that makes it part of the Constitution. Article V gives Congress the choice between ratification by state legislatures and ratification by state conventions. Whichever method Congress selects, three-fourths of the states must approve—currently 38.
Two stages, two kinds of convention
A proposing convention and state ratifying conventions serve different purposes. The first is called after applications from 34 state legislatures and may propose amendments. Ratifying conventions, if Congress chooses that method, meet in individual states to decide whether to approve a particular proposal. The shared word “convention” does not make these one body or one stage.
Article V leaves Congress to specify the ratification method for each amendment. The Twenty-First Amendment, ratified in 1933, used state conventions rather than state legislatures; it is the only amendment ratified by that method. Whatever method Congress specifies, approval by fewer than three-fourths of the states does not complete ratification.
What limits and common misunderstandings matter under Article V?
The two-thirds and three-fourths figures apply to different decisions. Two-thirds governs congressional proposal votes or state applications for a proposing convention; three-fourths governs ratification. Reaching 34 state applications does not approve an amendment, and congressional approval does not bypass the states.
Proposal is not ratification
A convention application is not a vote to change the Constitution. Nor does a convention call guarantee that the convention will propose an amendment. In the other route, approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate advances the proposal but leaves the state ratification stage ahead. Under the 50-state count, 38 states must ratify through Congress’s chosen method.
Article V also contains a specific safeguard: no state may be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate without its consent. That is a limit on changing a state’s equal Senate representation, not a general requirement that every state consent to every amendment. Other legal or procedural questions about the amendment process should be checked against Article V, congressional records, and relevant court decisions rather than inferred from this clause.
Which fixed numbers define the Article V process?
Article V fixes fractions, not permanent state totals. Two-thirds of the 50 states is 34, the number of state legislatures needed to apply for a convention. Two-thirds of each congressional chamber is required for a congressional proposal. The congressional threshold is calculated separately in the House and Senate, not by counting states.
Ratification and the 50-state count
Three-fourths of 50 states is 37.5, so the threshold must be rounded up to 38 whole states. That count applies to ratification by either state legislatures or state conventions. The 34-state application threshold and 38-state ratification threshold are different because the Constitution assigns different fractions to different stages.
If the number of states changed, the state counts would change with it; the fractions in Article V would remain. For a live count of state applications or ratifications on any particular amendment, use official state and congressional records, since the constitutional text does not track pending actions.
Frequently asked questions
Does a proposed amendment become part of the Constitution when Congress approves it?
How many state legislatures must apply for an Article V convention?
Can the president veto a proposed constitutional amendment?
Who chooses how states ratify an amendment?
Key takeaways
- Congress can propose an amendment with two-thirds approval in both the House and Senate, or Congress must call a proposing convention after applications from 34 state legislatures.
- A proposal becomes part of the Constitution only after ratification by 38 states under the method Congress selects.
- The president has no formal approval or veto role under Article V; Hollingsworth v. Virginia (1798) addressed that distinction.
- Article V protects each state’s equal suffrage in the Senate from removal without its consent.
- The Constitution does not provide a detailed convention operating code, so application counts and convention procedures require checking official state and congressional records.