Rescission prevents outdated petitions from being used to justify a national Constitutional Convention
(BOSTON—11/19/2025) Today, the Massachusetts Legislature passed joint resolutions H.4692 and S.2684 which rescind all previous applications for a national Constitutional Convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. This joint initiative is in response to concerns that Congress and the Trump Administration could attempt to use prior Massachusetts resolutions to call for an Article V Constitutional Convention to advance their own political agenda, moves that could have broad and sweeping implications on current protections under the U.S. Constitution.
The measure was identified by the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy as a Senate Response 2025 initiative, aimed at protecting our residents, defending our values, and leading Massachusetts through these challenging times. Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), who chairs the committee, voted in favor of the resolution.
“As we continue to see our Constitution being trampled on and challenged each day at the federal level, we do not need ambiguous language from over a half century ago on the books here in Massachusetts opening up a Pandora’s box of constitutional chaos,” said Senator Friedman. “Although a Constitutional Convention under Article V has never been called, we can’t take any chances. We are now the crucial 17th state to rescind our previous calls for convention. This means that any Article V convention will need to be decided by today’s residents, not by outdated resolutions and shoddy legal reasoning. Given the makeup of today’s Supreme Court, this resolution will serve as an important safeguard preventing an ambush on our rights and our democracy.”
The Legislature’s action makes Massachusetts the 17th state to rescind all prior applications for an Article V convention, and reaffirms that any constitutional decisions should reflect the will of today’s elected lawmakers and the people they represent.
An Article V convention is a process outlined in the U.S. Constitution allowing states to propose amendments if two-thirds (34) of state legislatures call for it. An Article V convention could open the entire Constitution to unpredictable changes, as there are no clear guidelines or limitations on what delegates could propose. While an Article V convention has never been called before in American history, there is recent conservative momentum to add up all active resolutions to meet the two-thirds threshold.
Massachusetts had several outdated Article V resolutions pending before Congress, including one sent in 1977 asking for an Article V convention to constitutionally ban abortions. These dormant calls have been cited in national legal strategies pushing for a convention, arguing they could still be considered active and contribute to the 34-state count. Sixteen states have already taken action to rescind all of their previous calls.
Both chambers of the Legislature voted to approve the resolutions, and the House and Senate Clerks will transmit copies of the resolutions to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and to the Secretary of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.
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