[An Article V Convention is] The most dangerous threat to our democracy that most Americans have never heard of.
— Karen Hobert Flynn, former President of Common Cause
I. What is an Article V Constitutional Convention (ConCon)?
For background, the Convention Clause of Article V of the Constitution was originally drafted to provide a mechanism for states & people to redistribute power in the event the federal government concentrated too much authority in itself.
The Convention Clause states that two-thirds of the States (that’s 34 states today) can call a Convention. However, the clause is only one sentence and establishes no procedures for who should represent people at the convention, how delegates are selected, if special interests are represented, how many (or how few) amendments can be made, or how far reaching those amendments can impact our republic.
The Constitution’s framers originally intended for a Convention to be a means by which the masses could force a more democratic form of government. However, the Convention Clause’s ambiguity, and Congress & the Courts’ refusal to interpret the provision has led to a gaping yet powerful loophole in the Constitution wide open for exploitation.
If actors exploited this loophole, they could call a convention for a reasonable purpose then hijack the convention’s direction to make major amends to the Constitution. This is known as a runaway convention.
II. Current Invocation Attempts
Today, corporate-funded and far-right groups like the Heritage Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and Convention of States Action (COSA) are heavily lobbying state legislatures to call a convention under the guise of needing to pass “term-limits” or a “balanced budget amendment”. However, their true intent is to turn this into a runaway convention—passing amendments preventing the government from regulating corporations, concentrating power in the wealthy, and undermining rights for working Americans.
Heritage, ALEC, and COSA hold annual “mock conventions” to train delegates on how to pass draft & amendments. The mock conventions result in delegates passing:
A constitutional ban on a woman’s right to choose;
Removing protections for national parks & forests and allowing extractive industries to pillage them for profit; and,
Eliminating checks and balances on the Executive branch.
III. A ConCon “Supercharges Project 2025”
Dr. David Super’s article, “A Constitutional Convention Would Supercharge Project 2025”, highlights how the American Legislative Exchange Council has taken advantage of the dark money loopholes created by Citizens United to fund state legislators to pass calls for an Article V Convention. The move has been supported by the Heritage Foundation—the creator of Project 2025—as a convention could add amendments making it easier for the far-right’s playbook to become a reality.
Super summarizes the mock convention’s proposed amendments, including a constitutional ban on abortion, overturning the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and preventing Congress from regulating interstate commerce—a core legislative power under the current Constitution. All this demonstrates how close the proposed amendments resemble Project 2025’s policy objectives.
And as Super points out, that resemblance shouldn’t be surprising. Both COSA and ALEC sit on the advisory board of organizations that helped Heritage develop Project 2025.
IV. The Runaway Convention’s Threat to Democracy
A blank check to corporations and special interest groups to rewrite the constitution would obliterate what’s left of the social safety net and civil liberties advancements that activists fought so hard to attain in the 50’s & 60’s.
Furthermore, despite only having 30 of the 34 states onboard that they need to call a ConCon, COSA & their allies claimed that they already met the two-thirds requirement based on counting a four-year-old could tell you is wrong. These groups recently notified Speaker Johnson & the U.S. Congress that they’ve met the threshold, requesting that they begin the process of holding a convention. Should Speaker Johnson & the GOP majorities go through with organizing a convention, it would throw our country into a constitutional crisis, with many states not respecting the basis for calling a ConCon.
Finally, as mentioned, there’s no process for electing delegates to a ConCon, meaning there’s little to no electoral accountability, transparency, or democracy to this process. This could lead to amendments passed out of a ConCon to be perceived as illegitimate.
V. Conclusion
Ultimately, calling a constitutional convention without sufficient guardrails can lead to a runaway ConCon far-right groups can exploit to increase corporate power & profit, erode checks & balances, and abolish civil liberties. If we don’t fight to stop calls for a convention in state legislatures, at best we will devolve into a constitutional crisis, at worst, we will end up with a constitution that—while not perfect—has safeguarded fundamental freedoms while standing the test of time.
