12 Amendments to Meet the Moment
"Breaking the back of the MAGA Mob"
Now let’s get real.
I recognize that it is not safe to assume that normalcy will be restored following some future election, or ever, but I want to engage in a useful thought exercise.
If sanity were to return, what are some ways we could lock in protections for basic rights that we are watching be destroyed in real time now?
Coming from a lifelong legal career, I gravitate towards institutional reform, although I hasten to acknowledge that other types of reform might be equally effective, such as changing social media algorithms, caging emergent A.I. threats, or reducing wealth disparity.
Here are 12 constitutional reforms that could address presidential instability and abuse, and reorient the U.S. government’s mandate to meet the challenges of our century.
1. Shared nuclear launch authority
Amend
the Commander‑in‑Chief clause (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 ) so
that first use of nuclear weapons (except in response to a verified
nuclear attack on the U.S. or its forces) requires concurrence of at
least two other officials in the line of succession (for example, the
Vice President and Speaker, or a statutory “nuclear council”). This
would directly constrain the currently assumed ability of a single
president, as Commander in Chief, to order a nuclear strike on their
sole authority and expand Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 (Congress’s
power to declare war, the War Powers/Declare War Clause).
2. No immunity for criminal “official acts”
Adopt
an explicit amendment clarifying Article II, Sections 1–3 (vesting of
executive power, presidential duties, “take Care that the Laws be
faithfully executed”) that no federal officer, including the President,
is immune from criminal prosecution for conduct that satisfies the
elements of a criminal offense, even when carried out under color of
official authority, except while in office (e.g., timing, not liability;
Article II, Section 4’s impeachment clause, remains as primary check on
presidential criminality in office). This would overrule or sharply
curtail the Supreme Court’s recent recognition of broad criminal
immunity for “core” and certain other official acts, and make explicit
that Article II powers must be exercised within the scope of generally
applicable criminal law.
3. Independent medical evaluation and a clear 25th Amendment threshold
Amend
the Twenty‑Fifth Amendment to require periodic independent medical and
psychological evaluations of the President, and to define objective
triggers for invoking Sections 3 and 4 (e.g., cognitive testing
benchmarks, documented inability to process information or follow basic
procedures). Congress could be required to create the “other body”
mentioned in Section 4 as a standing, nonpartisan medical and
constitutional commission whose findings carry defined legal weight in
the incapacity process.
4. Structural independence for the Department of Justice
Create
a constitutional framework for Department of Justice independence by:
amending Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 (Appointments Clause:
presidential nomination, Senate advice and consent, and Congress’s
ability to vest appointment of “inferior officers” in courts or
department heads); specifying that the Attorney General serves a fixed
term, removable by the President only for defined “good cause;” and
allowing Congress to vest the appointment of the AG and top deputy
prosecutors in a bipartisan commission or the judiciary, consistent with
limits set by the Appointments Clause. This would constrain direct
presidential control over federal criminal enforcement while preserving
the President’s general duty to ensure faithful execution of the laws.
Clarify that Article II, Section 3 (Take Care Clause: President must
“take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed”), currently read to
imply broad control over law enforcement, does not permit personal
political vendettas.
5. Enforceable disqualification for insurrection
Clarify
that individuals who previously swore an oath to support the
Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave
“aid or comfort” to such efforts (Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 ) are
automatically ineligible for federal and state office upon a judicial or
designated fact‑finding determination. The amendment could require
Congress, under its Section 5 enforcement power, to establish uniform
procedures for adjudicating disqualification and for integrating it into
ballot access, the electoral count, and qualifications for office under
Article II, Section 1, and the Twelfth Amendment (presidential and
vice‑presidential eligibility and the counting of electoral votes).
6. Limit and condition the presidential pardon power
Amend
the pardon clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, so that: (a) no
President may pardon themself; (b) no President may pardon offenses that
directly concern their own election, impeachment, or obstruction of
constitutional processes (e.g., certification of electoral votes); and
(c) certain “self‑protective” pardons (for close family, senior campaign
staff, or co‑conspirators in investigations concerning the President)
require Senate supermajority approval or are barred outright. This would
preserve a robust clemency power while blocking its use to entrench
personal rule or undermine accountability for attacks on the
constitutional order.
7. Rebalance war powers and first use of force
Beyond
nuclear issues, a war‑powers amendment could require explicit
congressional authorization for initiating any significant hostilities
(including cyber or drone campaigns or any weapons of mass destruction)
except to repel a sudden attack, codifying a narrower understanding of
presidential unilateral war powers (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1)
than current practice. It could also impose automatic sunset provisions
on authorizations for use of military force and require periodic
reauthorization to prevent perpetual delegations that enable open‑ended
conflict under a single president’s direction.
8. Harden electoral count and transfer‑of‑power rules
Amend
the Constitution Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2–3 and Twelfth
Amendment to: (a) confirm that the Vice President’s role in opening and
counting electoral votes under Article II and the Twelfth Amendment is
strictly ministerial; (b) sharply limit grounds on which Congress may
discard or question state‑certified electoral votes; and (c) bar state
legislatures from changing rules for appointing electors retroactively
after Election Day. The amendment could constitutionalize key features
of recent statutory reforms to the Electoral Count Act so that a future
Congress cannot easily weaken them in the face of another attempted
subversion of certification.
9. Stronger emoluments and conflict‑of‑interest rules
Adopt
amendments to Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 (Domestic Emoluments
Clause) and Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 (Foreign Emoluments Clause)
that: (a) require the President, Vice President, and major‑party
presidential and vice‑presidential candidates to divest controlling
interests in businesses that receive payments from foreign states, the
federal government, or state governments; and (b) explicitly apply
emoluments restrictions to closely held entities they control.
Divestment recipients may not be members of the officers’ immediate
families or their controlled entities.
10. Guardrails on emergency and domestic deployment powers
A
constitutional amendment could require that any declaration of national
emergency that significantly affects civil liberties or domestic
deployment of federal forces expires automatically unless approved (and
periodically renewed) by a supermajority of both houses of Congress. It
could also codify sharper limits on using federal troops domestically
except under circumscribed conditions of rebellion or invasion,
reinforcing existing habeas and civil‑liberties protections and
strengthening Article I, Section 8 (Congress’s powers over the militia
and armed forces, which underlie statutory tools like the Insurrection
Act) and Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 (Suspension Clause: limits on
suspending the writ of habeas corpus “unless when in Cases of Rebellion
or Invasion the public Safety may require it”).
Then, having dealt with the minutiae, the Constitutional Convention should press on to the nation's and the world's real needs.
11. Climate and Planetary Boundaries Duty Clause
Textual
draft: “The United States recognizes that human‑driven climate change
and transgression of planetary boundaries threaten constitutional
self‑government and national security. Congress shall have power and
responsibility to enact laws, including binding national targets, to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental pressures to
maintain a safe and just operating space for humanity.”
This would constitutionalize, after the design of Article I, Section 8 (Necessary and Proper Clause) the science‑based “planetary boundaries” concept developed by Rockström, Steffen, and others, establishing legal, quantitative, protected limits for climate, biosphere integrity, freshwater, biogeochemical flows, and related Earth‑system processes without which human life is unsustainable.
This amendment would (a) declare climate and broader Earth‑system stability a constitutionally recognized interest, and (b) give Congress an explicit, non‑commerce‑dependent power and duty to legislate rapidly and ambitiously on mitigation, adaptation, and planetary‑boundary protection.
12. Cabinet‑Level Departments for Climate and Planetary Security
Textual
draft: “Congress shall establish and maintain executive departments
charged with (1) climate stabilization and decarbonization, and (2)
safeguarding Earth‑system and planetary‑boundary integrity, with
authority to coordinate across the federal government and with the
states.”
This implements Kim Stanley Robinson’s excellent suggestion in The Ministry for the Future (2020) and James Burke’s Planetary Management Authority in the BBC series After the Warming (1989). Under current practice, Congress creates departments by statute (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1), presidents nominate, and the Senate confirms department heads (Clause 2), and the President can require written opinions from “the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments,” but the Constitution does not mandate any particular portfolio. This would augment the substantive regulatory powers that those departments would exercise under Article I, Section 8. The climate and planetary‑boundary protection should be at the same constitutional level as national defense in structural terms, ensuring permanent, cabinet‑rank institutions with clear authority to coordinate U.S. responses with “utmost urgency” across all sectors of the economy and all levels of government.
These 12 reforms all address the same central problem: extraordinary power in a single President, with relatively weak, slow, or politically fragile coordinate branches. The 18th-century-designed checks have failed at precisely the moment when the system is most stressed.
By targeting commander‑in‑chief powers, criminal accountability, succession and incapacity procedures, law‑enforcement independence, elections, financial conflicts, and emergency powers, these reforms aim to reduce the likelihood that a future unstable or tyrannical President can push the system—and the entire world—into crisis. At the same time, they direct attention to the most urgent threats of the 21st century.
Meanwhile, let’s end these wars. We support peace in Iran, the West Bank and Gaza and the efforts to end the war in Ukraine immediately. Global Village Institute’s Peace Thru Permaculture initiative has sponsored the Green Kibbutz network in Israel and the Marda Permaculture Farm in the West Bank for over 30 years. It will continue to do so with your assistance. We support Ukrainian families seeking refuge in ecovillages and permaculture farms along the Green Road, and we work to heal collective trauma worldwide through the Pocket Project. You can read about it on the Global Village Institute website (GVIx.org). I appreciate your support.
And speaking of resettling refugees, did you know? A study by Poland’s National Development Bank found that the influx of Ukrainians added between 0.5% and 2.5% to GDP growth and paid more in taxes than they received in benefits. A 2026 study by Cato Institute showed U.S. immigrants reduced government deficits by $14.5 trillion.
Could you help me get my blog posted every week? All Patreon donations and subscriptions to Blogger, Substack, and Medium are welcome. You are how we make this happen. Your contributions can be made to Global Village Institute, a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) charity. PowerUp! Donors on Patreon get an autographed book off each first press run. Please help if you can.
#RestorationGeneration.
We have a complete solution. We can restore whales to the ocean and bison to the plains. We can recover all the tremendous old-growth forests. We possess the knowledge and tools to rebuild savannah and wetland ecosystems. Coral reefs rebuilt with biorock build beaches faster than the seas are rising. It is not too late. All of these great works of nature are recoverable. We can have a human population sized to harmonize rather than destabilize. We can have an atmosphere that heats and cools just the right amount, is easy on our lungs and sweet to our nostrils with the scent of ten thousand flowers. All of that beckons. All of that is within reach.
Comments