# Joint Resolution A joint resolution, designated **H.J.Res.** or **S.J.Res.**, passes both chambers and **is presented to the President**. Legally it is indistinguishable from a bill: signed, it becomes law; vetoed, it dies unless two-thirds of both chambers override. The one exception is a proposed **constitutional amendment**, which goes to the states rather than the President. Because it is law, the joint resolution is the instrument Congress has to use when it wants to *bind* the executive. Because it is vetoable, that means a two-thirds majority whenever the President objects. ## What Congress uses it for - **Continuing appropriations.** Stopgap funding often moves as a joint resolution, though it can also move as an ordinary bill. The Sept 2026 stopgap was a bill, H.R. 6500. See [[Continuing Resolution]]. - **War.** Declarations of war and authorizations for use of military force (see [[AUMF]]). - **[[Congressional Review Act]] disapprovals.** Congress used this tool more in 2025 than ever before: **22 CRA resolutions were enacted**, more than in every previous year combined. The previous high was 16 across the whole 115th Congress (2017–18). The most contested were **H.J.Res. 87–89** (signed June 12, 2025), which voided California's vehicle-emissions waivers. GAO had said the waivers were not "rules" subject to the act, and eleven states sued the same day. - **Ending national emergencies** under the [[National Emergencies Act]]. In 2025–26 this became the main congressional check on emergency tariffs: - The Senate voted to end the Canada tariff emergency on **April 2, 2025 (51–48)**, again on Oct 29 (50–46), and to end the Brazil (Oct 28, 52–48) and global (Oct 30, 51–47) emergencies. - The House leadership blocked votes until **Feb 11, 2026**, when the House passed H.J.Res. 72 on Canada, **219–211**. - The Supreme Court's decision in [[Learning Resources v. Trump]] (Feb 20, 2026), which held that [[IEEPA]] does not authorize tariffs, overtook the fight. ## War powers In war-powers practice, the joint resolution is what Congress was left with after [[INS v. Chadha]] (1983) struck down the [[Legislative Veto]]. The 1983 amendments to the [[War Powers Resolution]] created expedited procedures for a joint resolution directing removal of forces. It binds the President, but it can be vetoed, so in practice it needs about 290 House votes and 67 Senate votes to survive. The record shows the problem: - Joint resolutions on **Yemen (2019)** and **Iran (2020)** passed both chambers and were **vetoed**. Neither override succeeded. - The 2026 Iran fight moved to the non-binding [[Concurrent Resolution]], which passed both chambers precisely because it could bind no one. This is the pattern mapped in [[War Powers Decision Flow]]: the binding instrument reliably fails, and the non-binding one occasionally passes. ## See also - [[Concurrent Resolution]] · [[Legislative Veto]] · [[INS v. Chadha]] · [[How a Bill Becomes Law]] - [[Congressional Review Act]] · [[National Emergencies Act]] · [[War Powers Resolution]] · [[War Powers Decision Flow]] · [[Congress Hub]]