McConnell calls balanced-budget amendment to floor

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday called down a joint resolution to the Senate floor that would alter the Constitution to require Congress to balance its budget every year.

Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and then ratification by three-fourths of the states.

In order to sidestep Democratic objections to the resolution, McConnell deployed an obscure Senate procedure known as Rule 14 that allowed the legislation to skip the committee process and go straight to the floor.

McConnell’s move came after several GOP senators delivered speeches on Wednesday declaring their support for altering the Constitution in such a way.

In March, a nonbinding "sense of the Senate" resolution calling on Congress to pass a balanced-budget amendment failed in the upper chamber by just two votes.

McConnell said he maintained the support of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as well as his entire Senate Caucus, and that he would push for a vote on the legislation when the Senate returns from the Fourth of July holiday.

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