# What This Bill Actually Does

This proposed constitutional amendment would prevent a president from pardoning themselves. Right now, the Constitution gives the president broad power to forgive federal crimes through pardons and reprieves, but it doesn't explicitly say whether a president can use that power on themselves. This bill would close that loophole by adding a clear rule: a sitting president cannot grant themselves a pardon for any federal offense.

To understand why this matters, imagine a president facing criminal charges for something they did while in office or before taking office. Currently, there's genuine legal uncertainty about whether they could simply pardon themselves to avoid prosecution. This amendment would make it crystal clear that they cannot. It's worth noting this wouldn't prevent a president from being pardoned by a *future* president after leaving office—it only stops self-pardons.

For this amendment to actually become law, it would need to pass both the House and Senate with a two-thirds majority in each chamber, then be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures within seven years. That's a high bar, which is intentional—constitutional amendments are meant to be rare and require broad consensus. The practical effect, if it passed, would be that any president facing federal criminal charges couldn't simply erase those charges with a pen stroke. They'd have to face the normal legal process like anyone else, though they could still be pardoned by a successor president if that president chose to do so.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to clarify the presidential pardoning power.

Green, Al

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment denying the President the power to grant himself a reprieve or pardon for an offense against the United States.