H.J.Res. 17House115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the number of consecutive terms that a Member of Congress may serve.

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 11:16 AM UTC

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would place limits on how many consecutive terms members of Congress can serve. Senators would be capped at two consecutive terms, and Representatives at six, with a required one‑year break before they could run again. The amendment also clarifies how partial terms from filling vacancies are counted and excludes any service that occurred before the amendment’s ratification.

Key Provisions

A person who serves two back‑to‑back terms in the Senate cannot run for or be appointed to the Senate again until at least one year after that second term ends.
A person who serves six back‑to‑back terms in the House of Representatives cannot run for the House again until at least one year after that sixth term ends.
Service filling a Senate vacancy counts toward the term limit only if the person serves more than three years; service filling a House vacancy counts only if it exceeds one year.
Any terms served before this amendment is ratified are ignored when calculating whether a member has reached the consecutive‑term limit.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee

January 11, 2017

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

January 4, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

January 4, 2017

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee

January 11, 2017

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.J.Res. 17 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Mark SanfordR-SC-1 · Mar 29, 2017

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor from H.J. Res. 17.

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued January 4, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. J. RES. 17

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 4, 2017

Mr. Palazzo (for himself and Mr. Sanford) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the number of consecutive terms that a Member of Congress may serve.

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:

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No person who has been a Senator for two consecutive terms shall again be eligible for election or appointment to the Senate until the date that is one year after the end of such second consecutive term.

No person who has been a Representative for six consecutive terms shall again be eligible for election to the House of Representatives until the date that is one year after the end of the sixth consecutive term.

For purposes of this article, any term a person serves as a Senator or Representative to fill a vacancy shall not be included in determining the number of consecutive terms that the person has been a Senator or Representative unless the period of time for which the person fills the vacancy is greater than three years in the case of a Senator or greater than one year in the case of a Representative.

For the purposes of this article, any term that began before the date of the ratification of this article shall not be included in determining the number of consecutive terms that a person has been a Senator or Representative.