Congress is violating the Constitution—and a $39 trillion debt is the proof

Most Americans can’t pass the U.S. citizenship test. Surveys put that number at roughly two in three. What’s more alarming: most Members of Congress are barely more informed about the document they swore an oath to protect.

That ignorance has a price tag—$39 trillion and climbing.

What the Framers Actually Built

The Constitution ratified in 1789 is a short, deliberately limited document. Its preamble runs just 52 words. Seven articles and ten amendments follow. 

The Framers—55 delegates, most educated in Latin, Greek, and classical rhetoric—weren’t building a government to run people’s lives. They were building a cage for government power.

About 20% of the Constitution itemizes things that the federal and state governments may not do. Only 10% is concerned with positive grants of power. The remaining 70% is structural: who holds power and how it must be exercised.

Separation of powers wasn’t a governing philosophy—it was a shield for citizens against the state.

The Amendment Escape Valve Congress Is Ignoring

The familiar route: Article V includes Congress to pass passing a proposed amendment with by at least a two-thirds vote in each chamber, then 38 states ratify it. All 27 existing amendments went this way.

The lesser-known route: if two-thirds of states (34) apply, Congress shall call a convention to propose amendments. Those amendments still require ratification by 38 states— so there’s no risk of a runaway rewrite of the founding document.

39 States Asked. Congress Looked Away.

Here’s where congressional failure becomes indefensible. By 1979, 39 states had active applications for Congress to call an Article V convention to propose a fiscal responsibility amendment, but Congress failed to act.A majority of the 50 states still have active applications that remain in limbo. The Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation (FFSF) has documented this (we both serve as board members). 

The state-created National Federalism Commission confirmed it in September 2025. Those findings were entered into the Congressional Record at a December 2025 hearing before the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Congress has still done nothing.

Since 1979, total federal debt has exploded from under $1 trillion to over $39 trillion and continues to rise rapidly That’s the direct cost of this abdication.

A Bill Exists. Use It.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington’s H.Con.Res.15 would call exactly the kind of limited Article V convention the states have been requesting for nearly five decades—one narrowly focused on a fiscal responsibility amendment.

Members of Congress took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Article V doesn’t give them discretion here—calling a convention when 34 states apply is a nondiscretionary duty. Ignoring it isn’t just bad governance. It’s a breach of constitutional obligation. It’s time to keep the oath.

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