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HJRES135Referred to Committee

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the pardon power of the President.

Share:
Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2025-12-18
Introduced
6
Cosponsors
HJRES
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Johnny Olszewski, Jr.
Johnny Olszewski, Jr.
Democrat · MD · Representative
Votes with party: 98.9% (550 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/O000176

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (6)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

  • Don Bacon (R-NE-2)Original· 2025-12-18
  • James R. Walkinshaw (D-VA-11)· 2026-03-27
  • Mike Levin (D-CA-49)· 2026-04-15

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

2025-12-18

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

  • House Committee on the JudiciaryReferred To · 2025-12-18

Previously

  • Judiciary CommitteeReferred To · 2025-12-18

Plain-English Summary

This proposal would change the Constitution to restrict the President's ability to pardon people convicted of crimes, likely by requiring approval from Congress or another body before certain pardons take effect. The amendment would affect how presidents can use one of their most powerful executive powers, potentially preventing them from pardoning allies, family members, or themselves without additional oversight. The change would need approval from two-thirds of both the House and Senate, plus ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures to become law.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Government Operations and Politics
Full bill text is not yet cached locally.
Open text viewRead on Congress.gov

Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.

  • HR9073To amend section 844 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 to change the applicability of the amendments made by such section, and for other purposes.
    Referred to Committee · 2026-05-29
  • HR8987Foreign Service Workforce Retention Act
    Referred to Committee · 2026-05-21
  • HR8879Oversight and Transparency for Small Business Certifications Act of 2026
    Reported by Committee · 2026-05-20
  • HR8704STABLE DRC Act
    Referred to Committee · 2026-05-07