If you could introduce a Constitutional Amendment What would it be

[KaiserDave]

Something around voting rights, as Nathan said. That is by far the most important.

I wouldn't pass anything on abortion or guns.

[Damocles]

A new constitution.

[The Mikado]

This one cuts both ways, but I do think it'd be useful. Not going to dress this up in Constitutional language right now.

For any office subject to Senate Advise and Consent powers, including judges, Cabinet officials, and the various other executive appointments subject to Senate confirmation, if the Senate goes six months without holding a confirmation vote on an appointee, the Senate is considered to have tacitly consented and the official takes the office. This shall not apply if the appointment is made less than six months from the end of the current Congress.



Obviously, this could benefit Republican Presidents just like Democratic presidents, but the idea is that you can't just leave an office vacant forever by ignoring a Presidential appointment. If the Senate has an objection to a Presidential appointment, the way to resolve that is by a confirmation vote that ends up voting no. Refusing to have a confirmation vote indefinitely should resolve in automatic confirmation.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

A good idea would be to stipulate that a seat gets removed from the judiciary instead of becoming vacant whenever a judge retires or dies, and that seats can only be added to the judiciary via legislation.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

A good idea would be to stipulate that a seat gets removed from the judiciary instead of becoming vacant whenever a judge retires or dies, and that seats can only be added to the judiciary via legislation.

Even if you think it a good idea, which I definitely don't,  it doesn't require a constitutional amendment to achieve.  Indeedm it's how the Court was shrunk during the Andrew Johnson administration.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Section 1: The right to an equal vote may not be denied to any resident 13 years of age or older for any reason.
Section 2: The Electoral College is hereby abolished, and the President shall be elected by a national popular vote.
Section 3: The United States Senate is hereby abolished.
Section 4: Wherever Redistricting is done, whether it be the United States House, State Legislatures, or otherwise, the power to draw the lines must be given to an Independent Citizens Commission.
And whatever other sections might be needed.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Section 1: The right to an equal vote may not be denied to any resident 13 years of age or older for any reason.
Section 2: The Electoral College is hereby abolished, and the President shall be elected by a national popular vote.
Section 3: The United States Senate is hereby abolished.
Section 4: Wherever Redistricting is done, whether it be the United States House, State Legislatures, or otherwise, the power to draw the lines must be given to an Independent Citizens Commission.
And whatever other sections might be needed.

Why do you want to abolish the Senate?
It doesn’t seem to me to serve any real function the House doesn’t, except maybe helping to preserve state powers; it seems like the sort of thing that should be elected differently like the Sénat in France or appointed like the Lords here.

[beesley]

Section 1: The right to an equal vote may not be denied to any resident 13 years of age or older for any reason.
Section 2: The Electoral College is hereby abolished, and the President shall be elected by a national popular vote.
Section 3: The United States Senate is hereby abolished.
Section 4: Wherever Redistricting is done, whether it be the United States House, State Legislatures, or otherwise, the power to draw the lines must be given to an Independent Citizens Commission.
And whatever other sections might be needed.

Why do you want to abolish the Senate?
It doesn’t seem to me to serve any real function the House doesn’t, except maybe helping to preserve state powers; it seems like the sort of thing that should be elected differently like the Sénat in France or appointed like the Lords here.

I'm sorry, out of all the things from our constitutional framework you could offer to the US, that is one of the worst. I would have a Senate over the HoL any day for here.

Anyway, mine would be around democratic and human rights, and also to reform the constitutional amendment process. If I was allowed another I would use it to strengthen public transport somehow, because it's my pet issue 😛

[Geoffrey Howe]

Section 1: The right to an equal vote may not be denied to any resident 13 years of age or older for any reason.
Section 2: The Electoral College is hereby abolished, and the President shall be elected by a national popular vote.
Section 3: The United States Senate is hereby abolished.
Section 4: Wherever Redistricting is done, whether it be the United States House, State Legislatures, or otherwise, the power to draw the lines must be given to an Independent Citizens Commission.
And whatever other sections might be needed.

Why do you want to abolish the Senate?
It doesn’t seem to me to serve any real function the House doesn’t, except maybe helping to preserve state powers; it seems like the sort of thing that should be elected differently like the Sénat in France or appointed like the Lords here.

I'm sorry, out of all the things from our constitutional framework you could offer to the US, that is one of the worst. I would have a Senate over the HoL any day for here.

Anyway, mine would be around democratic and human rights, and also to reform the constitutional amendment process. If I was allowed another I would use it to strengthen public transport somehow, because it's my pet issue 😛

I must disagree about their Lordships, although I accept it would be silly to introduce the Lords to America. But yes, the constitutional amendment process should be easier. No idea why you would want the Constitution to talk about transport.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Establishing a unicameral legislature elected via STV, with each state as a multi-member constituency and seats allocated between states according to the Wyoming Rule; Electoral College abolition and replacement with the nationwide popular vote; term limits for federal judges; hard caps on corporate donations to campaigns.

My grand political ideals aren't really suitable for an amendment, so this is what I'd go for.

[Alcibiades]

Establishing a unicameral legislature elected via STV, with each state as a multi-member constituency and seats allocated between states according to the Wyoming Rule; Electoral College abolition and replacement with the nationwide popular vote; term limits for federal judges; hard caps on corporate donations to campaigns.

My grand political ideals aren't really suitable for an amendment, so this is what I'd go for.

This is all good stuff, except for the Wyoming rule, which could lead to a massively over- or undersized legislature. Much better to stick to a fixed number - maybe 700-800?

[brucejoel99]

Inspired by Article V, Sec. 5, subdivision (b) of the California Constitution:

"For purposes of article II, section 2, clause 2 of this Constitution, in the event that a nomination transmitted by the President to the Senate is neither advised and consented to nor denied advice and consent by the Senate within one hundred and twenty-five days of such transmission, the nominee shall be appointed and take office as if such nomination had been advised and consented to by the Senate: Provided, That if such one hundred and twenty-five day period ends when the Senate is not in session, such period shall be extended until the fourth day following the day on which the Senate reconvenes."

[Derpist]

(1) Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the American people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

(2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

It's only fair since America's presence in Asia is basically the successor state to the Japanese Empire.

[darklordoftech]

If I was allowed another I would use it to strengthen public transport somehow, because it's my pet issue 😛

This could be done by prohibiting certain zoning laws.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, with the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from the Crown in order to hold any office of trust or profit under United States, or either of them.

 

[NewYorkExpress]

Two changes:

Repealing the Second Amendment.

An amendment making replacing the Vice President, in the event of such an event occurring, no longer subject to House/Senate confirmation.

[darklordoftech]

Prohibit the fillibuster.

[Hope For A New Era]

An update to my post from October:

The More Democracy Amendment

1. All the usual voting rights stuff (automatic registration, ban voter ID or alternatively give everyone an ID, etc)
2. Lower the voting age to 16. It's time to lead the world in democratization again!*
3. Make Election Day a federal holiday.
4. Abolish the Electoral College.
5. Abolish the Senate, and require all states to do the same (there isn't even any good reason for states to have Senates! At least the federal one kind of almost sort of makes sense).
6. Expand the House to 776 members (representing 1776). Cube-root of 2020 population is 692, so that should account for all the population growth I can imagine before population decline begins.
7. All Americans living on United States territory, state or not, will be represented in Congress.
8. Use a sort of NZ system for the House, but with the number of proportional seats equal to half the number of districts (so the legislature is 2/3 elected from districts, 1/3 proportional), with representatives of the single-member districts elected by ranked-choice voting. The goal is for the proportional portion to mitigate the effects of gerrymandering and allow third-parties to make an entrance, while the House still is mostly made up of people representing specific constituencies.
9. And on that note, put a specific and clearly worded ban on gerrymandering into the Constitution.
10. Supreme Court reform: Justices must be unanimously confirmed by the other justices, not by Congress. They serve 18-year terms staggered such that a justice is appointed every two years, so that every President gets at least two appointments, no exceptions. If a justice dies during their term, the President will appoint a replacement who must be "ideologically similar" who will serve only the remainder of that term and will not be eligible for a full term.
11. Literally just a statement declaring that a military draft of any kind is in fact involuntary servitude and is therefore unconstitutional under the 13th Amendment.
12. Literally just a statement declaring that the 2nd Amendment only prohibits total bans on possession of guns, not restrictions. Apparently some people need the clarification.

*or for the first time, depending on how you look at it

11 and 12 aren't really "more democracy," but they need to be said.

I'm tempted to change the Presidential term limit from two four-year terms to one six-year term, but I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary. Also, it'll mess up the nice Supreme Court system.

[brucejoel99]

Section 1. A State may not impose any burden that places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability on the ability of a woman to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability; but a State may restrict the ability of a woman to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability, unless such a termination is necessary to preserve the life or health of the woman.

Section 2. A State may enact regulations to further the health or safety of a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy; but unnecessary health regulations that have the purpose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy shall be construed as imposing a burden that places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

Section 3. For purposes of this article, the District constituting the seat of government of the United States and the several Territories shall be treated as though they were States.

Section 4. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation; Provided that nothing in this article shall be construed to have any effect on laws regarding conscience protection.

[Aurelius]

This would be my omnibus amendment to fix various issues with the structure of the federal government and rebalance the branches. The legislative branch's surrender of its powers to the other branches is becoming a big pet issue of mine.

Article I
§1. The method of the election of the President shall be a national popular vote.
§2. A Candidate for President of the United States shall be listed by name on the Presidential ballot if, one month before the date of the election, petitions are received in support of said Candidate, upon which are the signatures of unique Citizens of the age of majority, totaling a number greater than the total number of valid votes in the previous Presidential election, divided by two hundred.
§3. The Presidential ballot shall allow write-in votes for Candidates who do not meet the above criterion.

Article II
§1. Each State, Incorporated Territory, and Federal District shall send a delegation to the House of Representatives. Each member of a delegation from such a jurisdiction shall be a voting member.
§2. Voting members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned such that the delegation of each aforementioned jurisdiction has the minimal number of members such that each member in its delegation represents fewer than four hundred thousand Citizens.
§3. If the total number of voting members of the House of Representatives is thus an even number, one additional member shall be added to the delegation of the jurisdiction for which the number of Citizens divided by the number of members, as calculated above, is greatest.
§4. Each aforementioned jurisdiction shall provide that every member of its delegation to the House of Representatives represents a Citizen population that is not greater or lesser by more than one-tenth of one per cent than the Citizen population represented by any other member of said jurisdiction's delegation.
§5. Each Organized Unincorporated Territory with a permanent resident civilian population shall send one non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives.

Article III
§1. Should the Government fail to pass a Budget in a timely manner as required by law, the President and all members of Congress shall receive no pay until the Budget is passed. Congress shall pass no Law providing back pay for such periods.

...more to come dealing with the Senate, the President, and possibly the Judicial branch

[Spark]

Balanced budget amendment.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Abortion and Same Sex Marriage amendments.

[brucejoel99]

Abortion and Same Sex Marriage amendments.

Or just an amendment that constitutionally codifies Griswold & all of its progeny.

[Frodo]

Like I mentioned elsewhere, a rewritten Equal Rights Amendment expanded to include sexual minorities:

"ARTICLE —

"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, gender, or sexual orientation.

"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

"Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Like I mentioned elsewhere, a rewritten Equal Rights Amendment expanded to include sexual minorities:

"ARTICLE —

"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, gender, or sexual orientation.

"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

"Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."

What would that do that the 14th Amendment doesn’t do already? Why not codify substantive due process and rights to autonomy/personal liberty?