This is a proposed amendment to the Constitution.
1. The President may veto line items of legislation passed by Congress and presented to him for his signature. Vetoed line items shall be returned to Congress for reconsideration in the same manner as provided herein regarding wholly rejected legislation.
2. The Executive branch of the government shall enforce all laws enacted by Congress, and all provisions thereof, unless they shall be repealed by subsequent Act of Congress, or nullified as contrary to the provisions of this Constitution by the Supreme Court or the States.
3. Signing Statements issued by the President upon approving legislation passed by Congress shall not nullify any portion of the legislation, except in conjunction with the veto power granted herein.
4. No President may exercise the privilege of recess appointments for more than five positions during his tenure, nor shall the privilege of recess appointment be used for any member of the judicial branch, nor shall a recess appointment be used for any appointee already submitted to Congress or for any position which was already vacant on or before the day of their recess. Congress shall, within ninety days of their return from recess, either confirm or disqualify any recess appointee in the same manner as if the appointment had been made while they were not in Recess. If confirmed, the appointee shall continue to serve as described for recess appointments in the Constitution.
5. Executive Orders by the President are limited to implementation or clarification of existing legislation as enacted by Congress and must cite the portion of the relevant law which they seek to implement or clarify.
6. Within six months following the ratification of this amendment by the several States, all Executive Orders issued by any President, either current or preceding, and still in effect as of the date of ratification, shall be reviewed and notated with the relevant citation according to paragraph five of this Amendment, and if they cannot be thus referenced, shall be rendered null and void.
7. No President may suspend habeas corpus, nor assume Emergency Powers, without the express consent of a majority of all members in both houses of Congress, nor shall any such consent exceed thirty days without subsequent consent of two-thirds of the entire membership of the House and two-thirds of the entire membership of the Senate, nor shall the duration of any subsequent consent exceed a period of thirty days.
8. No President may disclose information affecting national security to any foreign nation or power, nor alter the classification of documents affecting national security, without the express consent of Congress.
9. No President may implement, by any action or order, any terms of a treaty or international agreement or resolution with any foreign nation, power, or international organization or coalition which has not been ratified or approved by Congress as provided in this Constitution.
10. All persons appointed by the Executive Branch, whether compensated or not, to positions of minister, counselor, advisor, ambassador, department head or subordinate head, Cabinet secretary or undersecretary, Chief of Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff, or any position with direct access to or determination of access to the President, or whose functions include determination of policy, shall be required to be confirmed by Advice and Consent of Congress, being subject individually to hearings and testimony before Congress, nor may Congress by legislation or procedure circumvent this provision.
11. All actions, papers, and communications of the President, and of his Office, and of the Executive Branch, are subject to review by Congress. In instances wherein the underlying issue of such actions, papers and communications shall be determined by Congress and the Supreme Court to be vital to matters of national security, no details thereof may be disclosed by anyone holding an office under the United States to anyone outside of Congress, until such time as the national security impediment shall have been removed by Congress. An impediment of national security shall not be operative as a defense by the Executive Branch against demands made by Congress, or its members, under this amendment. The Executive Branch shall comply with all requests for production within thirty days of Congressional demand. Determination of the existence of a national security impediment shall be made by the Supreme Court within five days of receiving the request from Congress.
12. The President may not appoint to any office any attorney or member of an attorney’s firm which has previously served as private legal counsel or private legal advisor to that President, nor may anyone holding an office under the United States serve as counsel to the President in personal legal matters which may have occurred either before or while in office, nor may the President or anyone holding an office of public trust in or under the United States use public funds or resources for private legal defense.
13. The immediate family of a President, including but not limited to his spouse or domestic partner, children and their spouses or domestic partners, and siblings and their spouses or domestic partners, shall not be eligible to seek the office of President, nor to hold any elected or appointed office under the United States, for ten years after that President shall have left office, nor shall the immediate family head any agency, hold any position, or perform any duty, whether compensated or not, which is empowered to make law or policy, during the tenure of that President.
14. Impeachable offenses of the President and all lesser appointed or elected officials shall include malfeasance and misfeasance, and shall include willful refusal to enforce laws affecting national security or to protect the covenant with the several states.
15. Congress may pass legislation restricting the amounts and purposes for which public funds may be used for domestic and international travel by the President and his family and their staffs, but in no case shall public funds be used for travel and security to and from political events or for production or distribution of political materials and information.
16. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions or the legislatures in the several States, as provided herein.
Revised 8/2/2010: Added provision for nullification by State legislatures.
Revised 6/25/2011: Added restrictions to acting on international organization resolutions. Clarified denial of Executive privilege and national security claims by the President. Clarified requirements for confirmation hearings for all Executive Branch appointees. Clarified and amplified restriction of President’s private counsel and counsel’s associates from serving as counsel for the government. Clarified review and revision of executive orders. Added option for Congress to restrict Presidential travel on the public dime and to prohibit political activities paid by public funds.
