Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress for the admission of new States into the Union.

# Summary of HJRES 141 **What the Bill Would Do** This proposed constitutional amendment would change how new states are admitted to the United States. Currently, Congress can admit new states with a simple majority vote (more than half). If passed, this amendment would require a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and Senate to admit any new state. This is a significant change because it would make adding new states much harder, requiring broader agreement across Congress. **Who It Affects and Current Status** The bill would affect any territory seeking statehood in the future—most notably Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and potentially others.

It would also indirectly affect all Americans, since it changes a fundamental process in how the country expands. Currently, the bill is in committee, meaning it hasn't advanced to a full vote in either chamber. For a constitutional amendment to succeed, it would need approval from two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of all state legislatures—a very high bar that makes passage unlikely.