“The current system has given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve,” Self said in a statement announcing the resolution. “Our Founding Fathers designed the Senate to protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach. If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them.”

Self argues repealing the amendment would restore the “constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union.”

Reps. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Andy Harris (R-MD), Scott Perry (R-PA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Sheri Biggs (R-SC), and Michael Cloud (R-TX) are all co-sponsors of the measure. 

Gosar wrote in a statement that Self’s joint resolution, which would hand the selection of senators back over to state legislatures, would “restore an important constitutional check, strengthen state sovereignty, and help bring accountability back to an institution that too often obstructs meaningful reform.”

“The Founders intended the Senate to be the voice of the states in our federal system, not a perpetual roadblock to the will of the American people,” Gosar wrote.

Higgins argued the 17th Amendment allowed “big money” to twist Senate races into “circus acts.”

“The 17th Amendment is arguably the most injurious amendment in history,” Higgins wrote in a statement. “The Founders knew what they were doing, and We the People should restore the original Constitutional process for election of US Senators.”

Still, it’s a long-shot bid, as repealing a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of both the House and Senate and must be approved by three-fourths of states.

But the measure comes in the middle of an escalating feud between the House and Senate chambers as lawmakers disagree over the GOP agenda, particularly the SAVE America Act, which has stalled in the Senate, as it does not have 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.

Senate Republicans hold 53 seats in the upper chamber, meaning any legislation generally needs Democrats to cross over for it to become law. But House Republicans who want to see the SAVE America Act passed are pressuring the Senate GOP to pass the legislation anyway, either through a Senate procedure called the “talking filibuster” or by eliminating the filibuster altogether.

President Donald Trump has also joined the pressure campaign, holding a bipartisan housing bill passed by both chambers of Congress hostage until the Senate passes the legislation.

“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” the president posted on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has maintained that the votes aren’t there, even if the Senate were to move to do so. Tensions flared in the Senate last week among some Republicans toward Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), with his colleagues accusing him of misleading Trump on the Senate’s ability to pass a measure that has repeatedly failed in floor votes.

But House Republicans believe the Senate’s lack of movement to pass the SAVE America Act highlights a failure of the upper chamber in doing its “job.”

“The Senate needs to do its job!” Self posted on X Wednesday. “Enforce the talking filibuster or NUKE IT and get this bill passed. INACTION IS NOT AN OPTION!”

LUNA AND ROY VOW TO OPPOSE ALL HOUSE FLOOR ACTION UNTIL SENATE PASSES VOTER ID BILL

The feud between the two GOP-led chambers has resulted in over 20 Republicans, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), vowing to reject any legislation passed by the Senate until the upper chamber passes the voter ID bill. 

Self’s proposal to repeal the 17th Amendment, if enacted, would not affect any ongoing elections or disrupt the term of senators already in office before it becomes a part of the Constitution.