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AMENDMENT 20. “Lame Duck” Sessions (1933)
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note: Article 1, Section 4, of the Constitution was modified by Section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th Amendment was superseded by Section 3.
Section 1. The terms of the President and 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.
Section 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.
Section 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 elect 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.
Section 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.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 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.
AMENDMENT 21. Repeal of Prohibition (1933)
Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the
United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any state, territory, or
possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating
liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 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.
AMENDMENT 22. Limit on Presidential Terms (1951)
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
Section 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 than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of
President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as
President, during the term within which this article becomes operative
from holding the office of President or acting as President during the
remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of threefourths
of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.
AMENDMENT 23. Voting in District of Columbia (1961)
Passed by Congress June 17, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1. The district constituting the seat of government of the United
States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct: 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT 24. Abolition of Poll Taxes (1964)
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 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 any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT 25. Presidential Disability, Succession (1967)
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note: Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th Amendment.
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice-President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice-President,
the President shall nominate a Vice-President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.
Section 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.
Section 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, transmit 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. 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 department[s] or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit 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.
AMENDMENT 26. 18-year-old Vote (1971)
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, Section 2, of the Constitution was modified by Section 1 of the 26th Amendment.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT 27. Congressional Pay (1992)
Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
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