The U.S. Constitution, a Page One Rewrite, Article I.


We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article I.

Section 1.

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Direct Citizen Vote, a Senate, and an Meritocratic College.

Section 2.

The Direct Citizen Vote will be conducted via a secure Internet protocol: vote.gov or the Vote.Gov app in various app stores. Physical locations shall be available in public buildings, open at least 72 hours a week, and no fewer than one physical computer in top shape shall be available per 5,000 residents nor farther than 5 miles from any concentration of 1,000 or more residents. This protocol shall be administered by nonpartisan groups and subject to review on an annual basis.

To participate, Citizens must be at least twenty five years of age, have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and presently spend at least 25 percent of their time in the country.

Direct taxes shall be apportioned among several States included in this Union, according to their numbers.

The Citizens shall choose a Council of Nine Speakers and other officers and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

To pass or approve a law, two thirds of voters must assent and at least one third of eligible voters must vote. Alternatively, fifty one percent of voters must assent if two thirds of eligible voters vote.

All bills must be available for vote for a period of two weeks or longer, except in exigent circumstances if assented to by the other two Houses and the Executive.

Section 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people every four years. Each Senator shall have one vote.

Each year, Citizens will elect or reelect one quarter of the Senators. Vacancies occurring by resignation or otherwise will be elected on the following year, allowing at least one month for debate, applicable for the remainder of the term.

There shall be no Senators younger than 30, nor having been a citizen of the country for fewer than nine years, nor having been an inhabitant of the State for which s/he has been chosen during the prior four years. Senatorial candidates must take exams created by the Meritocratic College prior to each election, the results of which will be publicly announced in prime locations.

The Senate shall choose a President pro tempore, who shall exercise the Office of President of the United States if needed.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Before and after proposing, debating, or voting on any Bill, relevant members of the Senate must consult with all relevant colleges of the Meritocratic College, and at least one regardless.

If any member of the Meritocratic College believes their college has not been properly consulted, they may compel the Senate to interact with them before the bill may proceed.

Section 4.

The Meritocratic College shall be partitioned into five-member colleges, added or removed to serve current political interests based on a two-thirds Direct Citizens and Senate vote.

These colleges shall include Agriculture, Health and Nutrition, Environment and Public WorksAppropriations and Budget, Armed Services and Veteran’s Affairs, Banking and Finance, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Space and Technology, Science, Arts and Humanities, Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Education, Labor and Pensions, Foreign Relations and Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources, Housing and Urban Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure, Ethics and Oversight, Ways and Means, Taxation, Library, Economic, Printing, and Rules and Administration.

At no point shall these colleges number more than 25 nor fewer than ten.

Members shall be nominated by a panel of internationally recognized peers with appropriate qualifications. They must possess tertiary education or training in an appropriate field, be thirty years old, and have been a Citizen of the United States for at least six years. The most recent examination or recertifications must occur within the past ten years and must be publicly available.

Each year, Citizens will elect or reelect one fifth of the Meritocratic College. Vacancies occurring by resignation or otherwise will be elected on the following year, allowing at least one month for debate, and Elected Colleagues will fulfill the remainder of the term.

Should any college be composed of three members with the same alma matter, from the same geographic region, or of the same cultural background, subsequent college members sharing the same homogenous history shall be barred from admittance.

Assent to Bills by relevant colleges must carry a three-fifths majority.

Section 5.

The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Meritocratic Colleagues, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.

Equal access to voting shall be available in the same manner as prescribed in Article I, Section 2.

Senators and Meritocratic Colleagues shall assemble at least every year, on the third of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 6.

The Senate and Meritocratic College  shall judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own Members. A majority of the Senate shall constitute a quorum to do business, likewise for each committee of the college. A smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 7.

Members of the Senate and Meritocratic College shall receive compensation for their services, determined as 50 percent above the median salary of citizens in the United States as determined by census, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at session, traveling to and from a session, and for any speech or debate, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No Senator or Colleague shall, during the Time for which s/he was elected, be employed to any other occupation.

Section 8.

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the Senate; but the Meritocratic College or Direct Citizens’ Vote may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.

Every bill must pass the Direct Citizens’ Vote and Senate and be allowed by three fifths of the relevant committee in the Meritocratic College before being presented to the President of the United States. If s/he approves the bill and signs it, it shall become law, but if not s/he shall return it with his objections. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that Senate shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the Direct Citizens’ Vote and Meritocratic College, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by the Direct Citizens’ Vote and relevant committee(s) in the Meritocratic College, it shall become a Law. But in all such cases the votes shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and Citizens may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States. The President must approve it for it to become a law. If s/he does not, it shall be repassed only by two thirds of the Senate and Citizens, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise relevant Legislation over the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section 10.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

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