Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that certain individuals are natural born citizens.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This joint resolution would expand the Constitution's natural-born-citizen qualification beyond the presidency. If ratified, only natural born citizens could serve as Representatives, Senators, federal judges including Supreme Court and inferior-court judges, ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, or other Senate-confirmed officers. The House and Senate restrictions would take effect at the next odd-numbered January 3 after ratification, while judicial and Senate-confirmed executive restrictions would take effect six months after ratification.
Who Benefits and How
Natural-born-citizen qualification advocates benefit because the amendment extends that standard to Congress, federal courts, and Senate-confirmed offices. Voters favoring stricter eligibility rules benefit from a constitutional barrier for major federal offices. Senate vetting staff benefit from a clear constitutional eligibility criterion for advice-and-consent positions. Election eligibility litigants benefit from explicit text that defines the covered offices.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Naturalized citizens are barred from serving in the covered federal offices if the amendment is ratified. Candidate campaign committees must verify natural-born-citizen status for House and Senate candidates. Judicial nomination staff must screen federal judge nominees against the new qualification. Foreign service nomination staff must screen ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, and Senate-confirmed officers.
Key Provisions
- Requires Representatives and Senators to be natural born citizens after the specified post-ratification transition.
- Bars non-natural-born citizens from serving as federal judges, including Supreme Court and inferior-court judges.
- Extends the requirement to ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, and Senate-confirmed officers.
- Creates staggered effective dates for legislative, judicial, and executive-branch offices.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Proposes a constitutional amendment requiring Representatives, Senators, federal judges, ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, and Senate-confirmed officers to be natural born citizens.
Key Policy Areas
Constitutional Amendment, Government Ethics, Immigration
Primary Purpose
Proposes a constitutional amendment requiring Representatives, Senators, federal judges, ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, and Senate-confirmed officers to be natural born citizens.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Natural-born-citizen qualification advocates
- Voters favoring stricter eligibility rules
- Senate vetting staff
- Election eligibility litigants
Identified Costs
- Naturalized citizens
- Candidate campaign committees
- Judicial nomination staff
- Foreign service nomination staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Natural-born-citizen qualification advocates, Naturalized citizens
Positive-direction: Natural-born-citizen qualification advocates
Negative-direction: Naturalized citizens
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology