Freedom Amendments (abridged version)

The full set of Freedom Amendments proposes a bold restructuring of the United States Constitution, including a transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system. While this fundamental change may be warranted by the steady accumulation of executive power and the decline of legislative accountability, many Americans may not yet be ready to embrace such a dramatic transformation.

For that reason, the abridged version of the Freedom Amendments offers a more politically feasible path to restoring constitutional limits without altering the basic structure of presidential government. This revised package preserves many of the most essential reforms, including strict constraints on congressional taxing, spending, and borrowing; stronger protections for economic liberty and the freedom of contract; mechanisms to restore federalism through state nullification; and a renewed commitment to originalist constitutional interpretation.

Together, these amendments address the core structural failures that have enabled the rise of an unchecked federal government, while maintaining institutional continuity that is more likely to gain widespread public support. They offer a practical roadmap for Americans who understand the urgent need for reform, but who seek to achieve it within the familiar framework of the existing constitutional order.

Freedom Amendments (abridged)

I.          No bill shall become a law which embraces more than one subject, that subject to be expressed in the title.

 

II.         The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for the purpose of paying debts, supporting the operation of the government, and providing for the common defense of the United States. No such tax or duty shall be enacted unless approved by two-thirds of each House of Congress, including any bill that increases revenue. Congressional spending shall be limited to carrying into execution powers expressly enumerated in this Constitution. No duty or tax on imports from foreign nations may be imposed to promote or favor any industry. All such taxes and duties shall be uniform throughout the United States.

 

III.       The Congress shall have power to borrow money on the credit of the United States provided two-thirds of each House of Congress approves.

 

IV.       The Congress shall have no authority to make any law to interfere in the commerce of the people of the United States, to impair the obligation of contracts, or to mandate actions by any individual, including those made in furtherance of any economic or commercial policy. Congress shall not abridge the freedom of production, commerce, or the voluntary and free exchange of goods and services, nor shall it create, operate, or participate in any business, professional, commercial, financial, or industrial enterprise. No court shall defer to any interpretation of law made by any department or agency of the United States when determining the meaning of statutes enacted by Congress.

 

V.        The Congress shall have power to declare war, provided two-thirds of each House of Congress approves, and every declaration of war shall expire one year thereafter unless two-thirds of each House of Congress shall authorize an additional year, each year thereafter. Congress shall have no power to authorize any use of military force by any bill, order, resolution or vote other than a declaration of war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

 

VI.       The legislatures of two-thirds of the several states shall have the power to nullify any law of the United States, provided such nullification occurs within twelve months of the enactment of the law as defined in Article I. Upon such action, the law shall be of no force or effect throughout the United States.

This authority shall apply only to Acts of Congress, and shall be exercised by resolution adopted independently by each state legislature and transmitted to the Congress of the United States. When two-thirds of the legislatures have so acted, the nullification shall be certified and entered into the laws of the United States.

This amendment shall not be construed to authorize the states to nullify judicial decisions, executive orders, or treaties duly ratified, except to the extent they are dependent on an Act of Congress so nullified.

 

VII.      This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; shall adhere to and be interpreted as the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces and this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each.

 

VIII.     The sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. The Congress shall have no power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived.

 

IX.       The Senate of the United States shall be composed of three Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for terms of nine years, with a power reserved to a two-thirds majority of each legislature to recall its Senators, or any of them.

Except in trials of impeachment, each state shall cast one vote in the Senate, to be determined by the majority of its Senators. In the event the Senators fail to agree, the vote of that state shall not be counted. In trials of impeachment, each Senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided equally into three classes, each class composed of one member of each state delegation so that one third may be chosen every third year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

 

X.        The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court consisting of nine judges and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

The judges of the Supreme Court shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the Attorney General for the United States. The Attorney General shall hold their office during one term of ten years.

The Attorney General shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint Attorneys for the United States for any district for which a Judge having criminal jurisdiction shall have been provided by law. They shall hold their offices for a term of eight years, eligible to succeed in office for one additional term of office. 

 

XI.       The Congress shall not appropriate funds to any state, nor enter into agreements with any state to perform or administer policy, programs or services except where such funding or cooperation is both necessary and proper for carrying into execution enumerated powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, and all such appropriations shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.

 

XII.      The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every third year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.

Each state shall have at least three Representatives; and until such enumeration shall be made, shall be apportioned in accordance with the most recent census.  No state shall create a legislative district with fewer than three Representatives. Representatives shall be chosen in accordance with the principle of proportional representation.