Constitutional Amendments
PROPOSED / DRAFT — CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
POSITION
Constitutional amendments should be narrow, understandable, structurally necessary, and directed at problems that ordinary legislation cannot reliably solve.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Constitutional amendments are difficult to adopt and difficult to reverse. They should protect durable structural limits that ordinary political majorities could otherwise evade, not constitutionalize temporary policy preferences or partisan advantage.
CONGRESSIONAL RULES — TWO-THIRDS PROTECTION
Once structural congressional reforms are established, major changes to the standing institutional rules of either chamber should require approval by two-thirds of that chamber. Ordinary legislation would not automatically require two-thirds approval.
The higher standard would apply to changing the rules governing the institution itself, including rules deliberately protected by the amendment. No party should win a bare majority and immediately rewrite structural protections in its own favor.
Because each chamber currently possesses constitutional authority over its own rules, any permanent restriction should be enacted through constitutional amendment rather than ordinary statute.
Expressly Protected Structural Laws
Ordinary legislation does not automatically receive a two-thirds requirement. The amendment may, however, expressly designate a structural law for heightened protection. Once designated, that law may not be repealed, suspended, waived, defunded, reclassified, circumvented, or materially weakened without approval by two-thirds of the full membership of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the full membership of the Senate.
The Public Fund Integrity and Non-Diversion Act is expressly designated as a protected structural law. A later appropriations act, omnibus bill, emergency declaration, accounting change, or transfer authority may not be used to evade that protection.
PRESIDENTIAL PARDON REFORM
No president should possess an unchecked ability to pardon political allies, immediate family members, senior administration officials, campaign associates, or themselves.
MPA supports an amendment under which:
Self-pardons are expressly prohibited
The President may propose pardons and commutations
A proposed pardon becomes effective only after approval by both chambers of Congress
Congress must provide an expedited public procedure for legitimate acts of mercy
Material conflicts involving the President’s own interests, family, administration, or campaign receive heightened disclosure and review
No pardon may prevent Congress or the public from obtaining records it is otherwise constitutionally entitled to receive
The final amendment should establish decision deadlines and procedures that prevent Congress from indefinitely delaying every ordinary clemency request.
CITIZENSHIP CHOICE & NATIONAL BETRAYAL
Citizenship may be surrendered voluntarily through the informed renunciation process stated in the Immigration policy. Involuntary loss is reserved for extraordinary national betrayal and requires a constitutional amendment rather than an ordinary political punishment.
Under the proposed amendment, a federal court may order forfeiture of United States citizenship only after a final conviction for:
Treason as narrowly defined by the Constitution;
Espionage knowingly conducted for a foreign government or enemy against the United States;
Terrorism intended to overthrow or coerce the United States, attack the American people, or cause mass death, catastrophic injury, or destruction;
Bearing arms for an enemy engaged in hostilities against the United States; or
Knowingly providing material operational assistance for an enemy or terrorist attack against the United States, its people, territory, Armed Forces, or protected allies.
The conviction must be entered in an Article III court after proof beyond a reasonable doubt or a knowing and voluntary guilty plea. Ordinary appeals must be complete. The court must separately find that the conduct was extreme, intentional, and demonstrated a knowing betrayal of allegiance to the United States. Citizenship forfeiture is prospective and may not be imposed retroactively.
Disagreement, protest, criticism, voting, journalism, religious belief, peaceful advocacy, whistleblowing, lawful opposition to an administration, or refusal to support a political party can never constitute national betrayal. The government may not convert dissent into treason.
A person ordered to forfeit citizenship remains responsible for the criminal sentence, restitution, forfeiture, taxes, lawful debts, and other obligations. Removal follows completion of the sentence unless a lawful order permits earlier removal. If no country will accept the person, the government must report that fact truthfully; citizenship loss does not create a receiving country or authorize detention beyond constitutional limits.
PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT, JUSTICE & NATIONAL STABILITY
The existing vote thresholds remain unchanged. The House of Representatives may approve articles of impeachment by a majority vote. That vote formally charges the President and begins the Senate impeachment proceeding, but the President is not finally or officially impeached unless the Senate convicts by the constitutionally required two-thirds vote. Upon conviction, the President is officially impeached and convicted, removed from office, and subject to any lawful disqualification. If the Senate acquits, the articles are dismissed and the constitutional record states that the President was charged but not finally impeached.
A sitting President may be investigated and evidence may be preserved, but the President may not be arrested, criminally tried, jailed, imprisoned, or placed in penal detention while holding office. Applicable limitation periods are paused. Criminal proceedings may continue after the President leaves office, resigns, or is removed.
A current or former President remains subject to the same substantive criminal laws, civil liability, restitution, forfeiture, fines, and noncustodial sentencing rules that apply to anyone else for private or unofficial conduct. Constitutional immunity for official presidential acts remains protected.
Because presidential prosecution can be used to punish political opponents and destabilize the country, any criminal case involving a current or former President must receive independent conflict review, preserved and disclosed evidence, a written comparator analysis showing that the same case would be brought against a similarly situated person, review by an independent three-judge court, and expedited appellate review. Party affiliation, popularity, wealth, or political opposition may neither create immunity nor justify harsher treatment.
No current or former President may be jailed or imprisoned unless:
A final criminal conviction has been entered after full due process;
The Supreme Court has completed mandatory review and affirmed the conviction and custodial sentence;
Two-thirds of the full membership of the House and two-thirds of the full membership of the Senate approve the custodial sentence; and
The offense involves a violent felony, treason, espionage, terrorism, extreme fraud, extreme corruption, or another comparably grave offense presenting extraordinary harm or continuing danger.
For other offenses, lawful fines, restitution, disgorgement, forfeiture, probation, monitored home confinement, loss of privileges, and disqualification remain available. This protection applies equally to every current and former President, regardless of party, ideology, popularity, or identity. It protects the Presidency from partisan criminalization without placing a President above the law.
CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS
MPA supports a proposed limit of six elected House terms and two elected Senate terms, allowing up to twelve years in each chamber. A partial term exceeding half of a regular term should count toward the limit.
The amendment should apply prospectively with a clear transition so voters, candidates, and current officeholders know exactly which service counts. It should not prevent a former member of one chamber from seeking election to the other, subject to the separate limit for that chamber.
Public office should be public service, not permanent employment. Institutional knowledge matters, but America should not develop a permanent political ruling class.
NO COURT PACKING
The Supreme Court should remain at nine justices. MPA supports constitutional protection against increasing or decreasing the number of seats for partisan advantage.
A vacancy should not change the authorized number of seats. Any future structural change should require constitutional amendment rather than an ordinary partisan statute.
MPA separately supports enforceable judicial ethics, financial disclosure, recusal standards, conflict-of-interest rules, and accountability consistent with judicial independence and constitutional separation of powers.
WHAT MPA WILL DO
Publish complete draft amendment text before formal party endorsement.
Obtain independent constitutional review and identify conflicts with existing provisions.
State transition dates, enforcement authority, judicial review, and what happens to actions already taken under prior law.
Campaign for congressional proposal or a lawful state-led proposal process only after the text, consequences, and safeguards are public.
Oppose bundled amendments that force voters or states to accept unrelated provisions together.
DRAFTING & RATIFICATION SAFEGUARDS
Before formal endorsement, MPA should publish the complete proposed amendment text, constitutional analysis, transition rules, enforcement mechanism, foreseeable unintended consequences, and explanation of why ordinary legislation is inadequate.
WHAT MPA WILL MEASURE
Public release of complete language and analysis before endorsement; independent reviews completed; conflicts and transition questions resolved; congressional and state support; ratification progress; implementation deadlines met; and legal disputes or unintended consequences identified after adoption.
Related policies: Changes in Government; Government Integrity & Equal Justice; Courts, Trials, Appeals & Timely Justice.
Status: Proposed / Draft — not yet formally adopted.
Originally published: August 15, 2026.
Last updated: October 3, 2026.
Version: Draft 0.5.