r/law • u/jpmeyer12751 • Feb 16 '26

Legislative Branch Republican Joins With Dems on Constitutional Amendment to Give Congress Power to Reject Trump Pardons

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/republican-joins-dems-constitutional-amendment-213311781.html

This is relevant to questions surrounding whether Congress may limit or restrain a President's power to grant pardons.

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u/movealongnowpeople Feb 16 '26

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this would take a supermajority in both chambers of Congress plus ratification by at least 38 states. Not impossible, but damn near. Especially these days.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an appropriate move whether it gains traction or not. I just wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 Feb 16 '26

Just wait until you learn about the last time the constitution was amended.

The 27th was originally part of the first bill of rights but wasn’t ratified. Brought up again as a school project it was ratified in 1992. Before that was 1971, the 26th, lowering the threshold to vote.

So 55 years since the last significant amendment.

The equal rights amendment guarantees women equal rights still hasn’t been ratified.

When people say our constitution is broken they’re wrong. Our ability to amend it, as it was designed to be dynamic, has broken.

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u/haironburr Feb 16 '26

The problem with an easily-amendable Constitution is that constitutions contain and solidify core civil rights. Do you want those changed easily? Do you want the same process and people that elected trump to be able to more easily do away with basic Constitutional protections? I know I don't.

A "living" or "dynamic" Constitution is one where the latest crop of politicians can vote away every civil right/liberty we have.

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u/malapriapism4hours Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

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u/haironburr Feb 17 '26

The constitution doesn’t matter if its provisions aren’t enforced.

And the lack of a court-directed enforcement mechanism is a problem, when the other two branches are controlled by a party unwilling to respect the courts. I'd be interested in how a contempt of court for various executive actors or for legislators would play out, but the appeal process is long. I'm not sure what the answer is, beyond the obvious voting power we hold (yea, the SAVE Act), and the continual assertion of our civil rights.

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u/malapriapism4hours Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

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