This is a quick rundown of most of the major additions to the Constitution.
For more details, visit the Amendments page.
Government Structure
The Executive Branch
The President
- Elected through STAR voting, with voters ranking candidates from 1 to 10.
- The Electoral College certifies the results of the Presidential Election.
- In the event of a tie in the presidential election results, both the President and the Vice President are elected by a joint session of Congress, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
- Day-to-day administration is delegated to the First Secretary, detailed in a separate section below.
- The President's roles as commander-in-chief, powers of appointment, veto authority, and ability to declare and manage states of emergency cannot be delegated to the First Secretary.
- The impoundment of Congressionally allocated funds is permitted but requires House of Representatives approval within 60 days.
- Congress's ability to grant the President extraordinary powers during a National Emergency is strictly limited. Such declarations must be based on Congressional authorizations, be narrow in scope and duration, submitted to Congress, proportional to the crisis, and minimally restrictive of Constitutional rights. They are subject to judicial review and Congressional amendment.
- If the Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities without a declaration of war, the President must submit a report to Congress, which must approve the conflict within 60 days.
- The Line-Item Veto is explicitly prohibited.
- The Pocket Veto is explicitly prohibited.
- If the President is impeached and removed, the Vice President can additionally be removed by the Senate by three-fifths vote.
The First Secretary
- Serves as the chief advisor to the President and oversees the Presidential Cabinet, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives. The President appoints the rest of the cabinet with the First Secretary's advice and consent.
- Oversees daily administration, including law implementation, direction of the Federal Bureaucracy, and management of federal personnel and resources.
- The House of Representatives may withdraw its consent via a motion to vacate, forcing the First Secretary's resignation. The House must simultaneously approve of a new First Secretary.
The Federal Bureaucracy
- Congress may insulate bureaucratic agencies from executive control.
- Congress may delegate regulatory powers to agencies, provided it sets clear standards, guidelines, and scope of authority.
- Agencies must be staffed based on merit, experience, and competence.
- Agencies must operate transparently, except where disclosure would harm operations or jeopardize national security.
Council of State
- Chief advisory body to the President.
- Senior officers appointed for 6-year terms by a two-thirds Senate vote.
- The Attorney General serves as the chief law enforcement officer, overseeing federal law enforcement and prosecutions, including of government officials.
- The Treasurer manages revenue collection, public debt, and the U.S. Mint.
- The Inspector General investigates waste, fraud, and abuse government-wide and oversees other Inspectors General.
- The Comptroller General acts as the chief auditor, ensuring accountability in public fund use.
- The Secretary of State administers federal elections, certifies and disseminates federal documents, and manages naturalization.
- The Chief Statistician oversees the Federal Statistical System, including the Census.
- The Surgeon General manages federal public health agencies.
- The Senate may establish additional Senior Officers of the Council of State.
- The Treasurer, Attorney General, Inspector General, Comptroller General, and Secretary of State form an Ethics Committee to ensure adherence to a Congressional Federal Code of Conduct. Its recommendations may ease Congressional expulsion vote thresholds and address judicial officer removal.
The Legislative Branch
- Bills must address a single subject.
- Citizens may propose and pass laws via referendum, and Congress may also place proposed laws on the ballot to be rejected or accepted via referendum.
- One appropriations bill and one tax re-authorization bill must be passed annually as separate single bills.
- If the appropriations bill is not passed by the fiscal year’s start, the previous year’s budget applies.
- Appropriations or taxes outside annual bills require a three-fifths majority.
- Congress controls "Legislative Marshals" to secure the Capitol and enforce its directives.
- Organic Law outside of the Constitution shall require two thirds of both houses of Congress to pass.
The House of Representatives
- Seats are apportioned by the cube root law, increasing to approximately 693.
- Representatives are elected via either Instant Runoff Voting or Single Transferable Vote depending on whether the district is single winner or multi-winner.
- Elections are called by the President at least once every four years.
- Recall elections are triggered by a petition from 20% of eligible voters.
- Vacancies follow a standardized rule.
- Independent commissions redraw electoral districts, with gerrymandering prohibited.
The Senate
- The Seventeenth Amendment is repealed, restoring state control over Senator elections.
- Senators must have resided in their state for at least 10 years.
- Former Presidents become lifelong Senators but do not count toward the quorum.
- The Senate cannot introduce bills, may reject House bills up to two times for annual appropriation and taxation bills and five times otherwise, and may delay bills for up to 60 days for annual bills and 120 days otherwise. If the President vetoes a bill, the Senate regains the power to fully reject a bill.
The Judiciary
- The Judicial Conference is a Constitutional body enhancing judicial self-governance.
- The current inferior court structure is constitutionally fixed, though Congress may adjust their number, composition, and jurisdiction.
- Administrative Courts are made part of the judicial branch rather than the executive.
The Supreme Court
- Focuses primarily on ordinary law due to other specialized courts. No ability to interpret the Constitution.
- Justices are appointed with two-thirds Senate consent.
- The number of Justices is fixed at nine.
The Constitutional Court
- Concentrates on Constitutional review.
- Comprises one justice per judicial circuit, appointed by a majority vote of that circuit’s district and circuit judges, serving 12-year staggered terms, with one-third appointed every 4 years.
The Electoral Court
- Handles federal election law and adjudicates election results.
- Justices are selected by a two-thirds vote of the Judicial Conference, with the Secretary of State’s advice and consent, from non-partisan judges with election law experience and at least 5 years free of partisan activity.
- Adjudicates all Presidential election results before certification by the Electoral College and Secretary of State.
Federalism
- Congress may set welfare program standards, with states implementing them and able to exceed those standards.
- Congress may build infrastructure with state consent.
- Indian Tribes retain self-governance rights per Congressional treaties.
- Federal lands are classified as Disposable or Permanent. Congress manages all federal lands, may dispose of Permanent lands with a two-thirds vote, and may delegate governance to states. States receive compensation for tax-exempt Permanent lands.
- Congress may issue economic regulations in partnership with states.
- Congress regulates campaign financing, ballot tallying, and voter registration for federal elections, and Presidential election conduct.
- Ratified treaties are supreme law, equal to federal statutes.
- The U.S. regulates interstate firearm commerce for state law compliance and background checks, with other firearm issues left to states.
- The District of Columbia has state-like rights and responsibilities, except Congressional representation.
- Arbitrary punishment or discrimination against any state by the United States is prohibited.
Rights
- Equality under the law, adult citizens’ voting rights, and lawful access to public services cannot be abridged on arbitrary grounds.
- People may responsibly roam public lands.
- Law enforcement has the responsibility to defend the liberties of the public.
- People have freedom of association, including collective bargaining rights.
- All work within U.S. jurisdiction must be voluntary and fairly compensated.
- Constitutional rights apply only to natural persons.
- People have privacy and autonomy over personal decisions.
- Equality under the law extends to all persons in the U.S., regardless of citizenship.
- People have property rights, and cannot be subject to unreasonable ownership or use restrictions.
- Lawsuits against the Federal government are permitted in an expanded range of scenarios.
- Collective punishment is prohibited.
- Everybody in the United States is innocent until proven guilty.
- Nobody in the United States can be coerced into making incriminating statements.
- People in court who cannot understand the language used in court may have the free assistance of a public interpreter.
- A sentence imposed in the United States cannot be harsher than a sentence mandated at the time the crime was committed.