U.S. Constitution · Amendment XIV, Section 5 · ratified 1868-07-09
Enforcement Clause
Alerts when a new grade, SI Solution or Think Tank idea cites Amend. XIV, § 5.
Also known as: Enforcement Clause
Live in the VFA record
Cited in 3 grades this month.
5 public items cite this provision · 3 in October 2026 (last month: 0)
Citations per week, last 12 weeks
The text
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
National Archives transcription (public domain; original spelling and capitalization). archives.gov
SI explainer
An explainer for this provision is in the queue. It appears here once it passes the SI Editorial Standard’s automated checks. The text, founding-era sources and live citations below are complete.
In the founders’ words
- “This is done by the fifth section of this amendment, which declares that "the Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article." Here is a direct affirmative delegation of power to Congress to carry out all the principles of these guarantees, a power not found in the Constitution.” Jacob M. Howard, Sen. Jacob M. Howard, Speech Introducing the Fourteenth Amendment, Senate, May 23, 1866 (Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 2764-66) (1866-05-23)
- “Now, I desire that the very privileges for which the gentleman is contending shall be secured to the citizens; but I want them secured by a constitutional amendment that legislation cannot override.” John A. Bingham; Giles W. Hotchkiss, House of Representatives, Debate on Bingham's Proposed Amendment, February 28, 1866 (Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess.) (1866-02-28)
- “It is the power in the people, in the whole people of the United States, by express authority of the Constitution to do that by congressional enactment which hitherto they have not had the power to do, and have never even attempted to do; that is, to protect by national law the privileges and immunities of all the citizens of the Republic and the inborn rights of every person within its jurisdiction whenever the same shall be abridged or denied by the unconstitutional acts of any State.” John A. Bingham, House of Representatives, Debate on the Fourteenth Amendment, May 10, 1866 (Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 2542) (1866-05-10)
Public-domain primary sources, quoted word for word and checked against the linked text.
Leading Supreme Court cases
- Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883)
- Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
- Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970) · superseded in part by the Twenty-sixth Amendment
- Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
- City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
- United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
- Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
- Trump v. Anderson, 601 U.S. 100 (2024)
Cited in the VFA record
“Where this provision is cited”
SI Solutions (2)
grades (3)
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H.R. 14: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
2026-10-11 · Grade C (Significant issues)
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Executive Order 14280: Reinstating Commonsense School Discipline Policies
2026-10-08 · Grade A (Constitutional)
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Executive Order 14279: Reforming Accreditation To Strengthen Higher Education
2026-10-08 · Grade A (Constitutional)
Roll-call votes are listed when the measure voted on has a current Constitution Index grade citing this provision. Counts include only published items.
Cite this page
Values for America Constitution Explorer, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution (text: National Archives transcription, public domain), Amendment XIV, Section 5, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution/amendment-14/section-5
Data: this provision as JSON.