End Presidential Immunity

What this plank asks for

Congress would pass a joint resolution that proposes a constitutional amendment. The amendment would overturn or narrow the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States. It would restore criminal accountability for former presidents' official acts.

Where it stands

REJECTED

This plank failed the Consensus Test, which needs at least 60% of Republicans and at least 60% of Democrats in support. In the Marquette Law School Poll (fieldwork January 27 to February 5, 2025), 32% of Republicans opposed the ruling the amendment would reverse, and 87% of Democrats did. The Republican number is 28 points under the floor, so the process stopped there. Two planks on the slate, congressional term limits and a binding Supreme Court ethics code, are fully qualified today. This page does not hide that.

What moves it: three admitted pollsters showing 60% or more of Republicans and 60% or more of Democrats supporting the amendment, with 70% or more nationally, fieldwork spanning at least 18 months, and one poll inside the last 12 months.

The evidence

The Marquette poll asks about the ruling, not about an amendment. We use it because it is the closest question on record. The Marquette numbers are the only ones that count, so the median for each group is the Marquette number. The recency rule needs a qualifying poll with fieldwork on or after October 16, 2025. No admitted poll since then asks this question.

Marquette designs its own questions. SSRS fields the survey. Marquette is on the Qualifying Pollster List. Ipsos and YouGov are on the list too, and their rows are context for the reasons shown. The Michigan poll was a state sample, was commissioned by a private party seeking the amendment, and its pollster is not on the list.

The five tests

• Consensus: FAIL. Republicans at 32% are under the 60% floor, and only one admitted pollster has a counted poll.
• Action: PENDING. Not run, because evaluation stops at the first failed test.
• Outcome: PENDING. Not run, because evaluation stops at the first failed test.
• Grading: PENDING. Not run, because evaluation stops at the first failed test.
• Single-Subject: PENDING. Not run, because evaluation stops at the first failed test.

In Congress right now

H.J.Res. 108 would add a constitutional amendment on immunity from prosecution. Rep. Morelle introduced it on July 22, 2025. The House referred it to the Judiciary Committee the same day. It has 185 cosponsors. All 185 are Democrats. No Republican has signed on. The committee has held no hearing and no markup, and no floor action has happened. We found no Senate companion. Vehicle status: no determination yet. The text also covers the Vice President, Members of Congress, and self-pardons, and a determination would check that against the plank's single outcome.

Bill numbers above belong to the 119th Congress. They expire when the 120th Congress is seated in January 2027. The plank does not.

How signers would be graded

No signer is graded on this plank, because it is not on the slate. If it qualified, the levers would be these. A House member could sign a discharge petition, vote on rules and previous-question motions that decide whether the amendment reaches the floor, vote on the floor, and vote in committee where votes are recorded. A senator could vote on cloture, vote on the floor, and consent or object to floor action by unanimous consent. A constitutional amendment needs two thirds of the House and two thirds of the Senate. Then 38 states must ratify it. That bar is much higher than a simple majority or the 60 votes needed for cloture.

Lines of attack and our answers

Attack: You only reject ideas that one side likes.
Answer: The same test rejected nothing else on the slate. It also left two planks fully qualified, congressional term limits and a binding Supreme Court ethics code. The rejected list is published, so anyone can check each result.

Attack: Rejecting this plank means you oppose holding presidents accountable.
Answer: The test does not judge whether an idea is right. It measures one thing, whether voters in both parties agree at 60% or more.

Attack: Michigan Republicans backed the amendment at 63%.
Answer: That poll sampled one state. A private party that wants the amendment commissioned it. Its pollster is not on the list, and we could not check the number at its source.

Attack: Your only poll is old and asks about the ruling, not an amendment.
Answer: Both points are true, and we say so above. No newer admitted poll asks the question. A new poll would be held to the same floor.

Attack: An Ipsos poll found 54% of Republicans in favor, not 32%.
Answer: That question came inside a list of a named president's proposals, so it breaks the neutral wording rule. Even so, 54% is under the 60% floor.

Sources

1. Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, February 2025: law.marquette.edu
2. Marquette Law School Poll, national Supreme Court release, September 17, 2026 (no immunity or amendment question): law.marquette.edu
3. Ipsos, August 2024: ipsos.com
4. Silver Bulletin pollster ratings: natesilver.net
5. AAPOR Transparency Initiative: aapor.org
6. Text of H.J.Res. 108, 119th Congress: congress.gov

Last updated October 19, 2026. Criteria version: Draft 3, ratified October 16, 2026.