Here are the questions in the presidential civics competition: How would you fare?

Thousands of students took part for the U.S.'s 250th anniversary.

By
Arthur Jones II
July 2, 2026, 5:57 PM ET
3 min read

The "Ultimate Civics Showdown," an initiative of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, named its first-ever Presidential 1776 Award winner this week.

Miriam Washut, a 17-year-old homeschooled student from Wyoming, defeated about two dozen other finalists from a selection of thousands of students who participated in what the Education Department dubbed the "impossible exam."

McMahon said the competition helps restore civics education for America's 250th anniversary. It rose alongside her department's national History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour, in which she held assembly programs at various schools across the country to show students that "civics is cool."

The teenagers from all 50 states, U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., each won regional competitions and then traveled to the nation's capital for the final competition hosted at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in June. The finalists participated in several rounds in the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater, with questions on the Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War battles and the U.S. Constitution. They answered dozens of rapid-fire, short-answer and essay-style questions in front of five judges, an academic, and a proctor.

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The challenge was an oral examination, where the students answered questions in a game show format. Rounds were similar to other competitions like Jeopardy!, Family Feud, and the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The top three student winners, Washut, Washington state's Summer Brondstetter and Michigan's Rowan Kozminski were taken to the White House and awarded medals, presidential coins, and shared the $250,000 prize. The money is intended to be used as scholarship funding.

Here are the "impossible exam's" 14 lightning round-questions that contestants had 30 seconds to answer.

Each student took turns answering as many of these questions as they could in the time allotted.

See how you'd do:

  • Which amendment ended slavery?
  • Which office ensures that all laws are faithfully executed?
  • What right does the 19th Amendment guarantee?
  • Which amendment set the voting age to 18?
  • What is the term length for a United States senator?
  • Where must all bills for raising revenue originate?
  • Which amendment repealed another amendment?
  • What proportion of senators must agree for a treaty to be ratified?
  • According to the 22nd Amendment, how many times can a person be elected to the office of president?
  • Which branch of the government may declare war?
  • What did the 18th Amendment do?
  • What is the age requirement to be a U.S. representative?
  • Which amendment prohibits quartering of troops in homes during peacetime?
  • Which amendment gave Congress the power to create and collect a federal income tax?

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