H.J. Res. 13 119th Congress House

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

Introduced: January 9, 2025 Introduced by: Steve Cohen Democratic · Tennessee See on congress.gov

Crime and Law Enforcement Constitution and constitutional amendmentsCriminal procedure and sentencingElections, voting, political campaign regulationFamily relationships

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Federal officialsGovernment ethics and transparency, public corruptionPresidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Jan 9, 2025

Introduced in House

Jan 9, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

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What's happening now January 9, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment limiting the pardon power of the President.

The amendment prohibits the President from granting a pardon or reprieve to himself or herself, to relatives or members of the administration, to paid campaign employees, to a person or entity for an offense motivated by an interest of any of those people, or to a person or entity for an offense directed by or coordinated with the President.

The amendment also invalidates pardons issued for a corrupt purpose.

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Judiciary Committee
House of Representatives

Cosponsors 5

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

District of Columbia · Jan 20, 2026

Bonamici, Suzanne

Oregon · Dec 16, 2025

Lieu, Ted

California · Sep 9, 2025

Johnson, Henry C. "Hank"

Georgia · Jan 9, 2025

Levin, Mike

California · Jan 9, 2025

Cite this page click to expand

APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). H.J. Res. 13: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States limiting the pardon power of the President.. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HJRES-13/

MLA

"H.J. Res. 13: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States limiting the pardon power of the President.." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HJRES-13/.

Bluebook (legal)

H.J. Res. 13, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HJRES-13/.

Markdown link

[H.J. Res. 13: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States limiting the pardon power of the President.](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HJRES-13/)