Which body has the power to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution?

• A. Congress
• B. The President
• C. The Supreme Court
• D. State Legislatures

Answer: (A)

Amendments are proposed by Congress. A proposed amendment must clear a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate to move forward. The President doesn’t have a formal role in proposing amendments, and the Supreme Court doesn’t either. State legislatures don’t directly propose amendments, though they can participate indirectly—by ratifying proposed amendments once Congress sends them, or, in a rarely used alternative path, by requesting a constitutional convention that could itself propose amendments. The key point is that the formal power to initiate amendments rests with Congress through that two-thirds vote.