PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution to limit terms in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Specifically, the amendment limits an individual serving as a Member of the House of Representatives to six two-year terms and an individual serving as a Senator to two six-year terms. The amendment specifies that the term limits do not apply to an individual who served in either chamber of Congress before the 118th Congress.
The joint resolution provides that the amendment shall be valid when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification.
Under Article V of the Constitution, both chambers of Congress may propose an amendment by a vote of two-thirds of all Members present for such vote. A proposed amendment must be ratified by the states as prescribed in Article V and as specified by Congress.
People & committees
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] · R–PA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 16, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.J.Res.5 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.J.Res.5 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.J.Res.5 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.J.Res.5 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment limiting people to six two-year terms in the House of Representatives and two six-year terms in the Senate. Longer periods of service within an unfinished term would count as full terms. Anyone who served in either chamber before the 118th Congress would be exempt. The amendment would become part of the Constitution only if three-fourths of state legislatures ratified it within seven years after submission.
No person shall serve as a Representative for more than six two-year terms.
Service as a Representative for more than one year of any two-year term shall be treated as a complete term for purposes of this section, without regard to whether the service was completed by the individual originally elected to the term.
No person shall serve as a Senator for more than two six-year terms. Service as a Senator for more than three years of any six-year term shall be treated as a complete term for purposes of this section, without regard to whether the service was completed by the individual originally elected to the term.
This article shall not apply to any person who served as a Representative or as a Senator during any Congress occurring before the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification
For people covered by the proposed amendment, House service would be limited to six two-year terms.
No person shall serve as a Representative for more than six two-year terms.
Serving more than one year of a two-year House term would count as a full term toward the House limit, including when the person serving was not originally elected to that term.
Service as a Representative for more than one year of any two-year term shall be treated as a complete term for purposes of this section, without regard to whether the service was completed by the individual originally elected to the term.
For people covered by the proposed amendment, Senate service would be limited to two six-year terms.
No person shall serve as a Senator for more than two six-year terms.
Serving more than three years of a six-year Senate term would count as a full term toward the Senate limit, including when the person serving was not originally elected to that term.
Service as a Senator for more than three years of any six-year term shall be treated as a complete term for purposes of this section, without regard to whether the service was completed by the individual originally elected to the term.
Anyone who served in either chamber during any Congress before the 118th Congress would be exempt from the entire amendment. The exemption would cover both proposed limits, regardless of which chamber the person previously served in.
This article shall not apply to any person who served as a Representative or as a Senator during any Congress occurring before the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
This is a proposed constitutional amendment, not an ordinary statute. Its stated condition for becoming part of the Constitution is ratification—formal approval—by three-fourths of state legislatures within seven years after submission for ratification.
That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification
The supplied actions snapshot, updated October 16, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on the Judiciary on January 3, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-16T08:05:47Z. 2025-01-03: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. 2025-01-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied text contains a special exemption from the proposed term limits for a defined group of prior officeholders.
People who served in either chamber before the 118th Congress would be exempt from the entire amendment, allowing that defined group to remain outside both proposed term limits. This is a narrow exception directly related to the main term-limit policy.
This article shall not apply to any person who served as a Representative or as a Senator during any Congress occurring before the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
No person shall serve as a Representative for more than six two-year terms.
No person shall serve as a Senator for more than two six-year terms.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 16, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI