The executive power of the United States shall be vested in a President of the United States. The Executive Branch shall execute the laws of the United States, administer the civil government of the Nation, protect the constitutional order, and perform only those powers granted by this Constitution and by laws made in pursuance thereof.
The Executive Branch exists to carry the laws into faithful execution, to administer the departments and agencies of the United States, to protect the Nation against invasion and other actual attacks, to conduct foreign relations as authorized by this Constitution, and to preserve the continuity of constitutional government. The Executive Branch shall not legislate, shall not control the judiciary, and shall not exercise any fiscal or censorial power except where this Constitution expressly provides otherwise.
The President of the United States shall be elected by direct national popular vote of the citizenry of the United States. A majority of all votes cast shall be required for election. If no person receives a majority, a runoff election shall be held in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law.
The Vice President of the United States shall be elected by direct national popular vote in the same election cycle as the President, in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law. The Legislature may by law provide whether the President and Vice President shall appear upon a joint ticket or by coordinated separate ballot, provided that the lawful winner of each office is ascertainable with certainty and that no law shall defeat the succession and continuity purposes of this Article.
No person shall be elected President who has not attained the age of thirty-five years, who has not been a citizen of the United States for at least twenty years, who has not maintained full-time permanent residence within the United States for at least twenty years immediately preceding election, or who has been convicted of treason, bribery, insurrection, a serious crime of dishonesty, or any offense involving corruption or abuse of public office as defined by law.
No person shall be elected Vice President who is not qualified to hold the office of President under this Constitution.
The President and Vice President shall hold their offices for terms of four years, and shall begin and end those terms on the dates provided by this Constitution or by law consistent with this Constitution.
No person shall be elected President more than twice, and no person who has served more than two years of a term to which another person was elected President shall be elected President more than once. No law shall extend, suspend, waive, or evade the term limits established by this Section.
Before entering on the execution of office, the President shall take the following oath or affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, preserve, protect, and defend this Constitution, obey the limits imposed upon my office, and discharge the duties of that office with fidelity to the People and the rule of law.”
The Vice President and all executive officers of the United States shall take a similar oath or affirmation to support and defend this Constitution and to faithfully discharge the duties of office.
The President shall, at stated times, receive compensation for services, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for which elected, and shall receive no other emolument, gift, salary, benefit, or compensation from the United States, any State, or any foreign or domestic governmental or private source, except as expressly permitted by this Constitution and by laws consistent with this Constitution.
The principal seat of the Executive Branch shall be established in Washington, District of Columbia.
The President shall have power:
No executive power shall exist by implication merely from the nature of the office. The President shall possess only those powers expressly vested by this Constitution and such incidental administrative authority as is strictly necessary to carry those powers into execution.
The President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Neither the President nor any executive officer shall suspend, rewrite, nullify, or refuse the ordinary execution of a law of the United States except where the Constitution itself forbids enforcement, a court of competent jurisdiction has stayed or invalidated enforcement, or Congress has otherwise lawfully provided.
The President may supervise the departments, agencies, and officers of the Executive Branch in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law. Congress may establish, reorganize, combine, or abolish executive departments and agencies by law, provided that no law shall transfer to the Executive Branch powers vested elsewhere by this Constitution.
The President shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall appoint, ambassadors, principal executive officers, and such other officers of the United States as this Constitution or law may require. Congress may by law vest the appointment of inferior officers in the President alone, in the courts of the United States, or in the heads of departments, provided that no such law shall evade the accountability required by this Article.
Congress may by law provide for temporary acting service in executive offices during vacancy, incapacity, or absence, but no acting designation shall continue beyond one hundred twenty days without a lawful nomination where nomination is required, and no acting officer shall serve indefinitely in place of a principal officer whose office requires appointment under this Constitution. Acting service shall exist only for continuity and not to evade confirmation, scrutiny, or accountability.
The President may remove executive officers whose functions are purely executive, subject to any procedures or protections provided by this Constitution or by law consistent with this Constitution. Congress may by law provide standards, notice, record, and review procedures for the removal of officers exercising quasi-judicial, quasi-legislative, independent investigative, ethics, or inspector functions, provided that such laws do not destroy executive accountability or violate the separation of powers established by this Constitution.
The President may negotiate treaties and international agreements. No treaty shall bind the United States unless ratified by two-thirds of the Senators present, unless this Constitution provides otherwise. No executive agreement shall have force superior to this Constitution or to an Act of Congress. No treaty or international agreement may alter the internal constitutional structure of the United States except by lawful constitutional amendment.
The President shall from time to time give to the Legislature information on the state of the Union, recommend to its consideration such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient, and provide such reports of administration, enforcement, military action, emergency action, and foreign commitments as this Constitution or law may require.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes law, be presented to the President. If the President approves, the President shall sign it. If not, the President shall return it with written objections to the House in which it originated within the time prescribed by this Constitution or by law. The Houses may reconsider and override the veto by the vote required elsewhere in this Constitution or, if not elsewhere provided, by two-thirds of each House. No veto shall be concealed, unexplained, or delayed beyond the period allowed by law.
The President may issue executive orders, proclamations, memoranda, and other lawful directives only for the purpose of directing the internal administration of the Executive Branch or implementing authority otherwise lawfully granted by this Constitution or by statute. No executive order or directive shall create new law, create a crime, impose a tax, appropriate money, suspend rights, alter the legal duties of private persons beyond existing law, or continue in force after the underlying constitutional or statutory authority has expired.
Every executive order, proclamation, memorandum, national security directive of legal effect, and other binding executive instruction shall be reduced to writing, dated, signed or otherwise formally authenticated, preserved in the public record, and published promptly, except where temporary classified treatment is narrowly required by law. No secret executive law shall have legal effect upon the general public.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States and of such militia as may be lawfully called into the service of the United States, but this authority is an operational and defensive command authority and shall not include the power to declare war, create military law, appropriate funds, or initiate prolonged armed conflict except as expressly authorized by this Constitution or by law.
The President may direct immediate defensive military action without prior legislative authorization only to repel an actual or clearly imminent armed attack upon the United States, its forces, or its territories, or to rescue United States persons from sudden and unlawful armed assault where delay would materially endanger life or constitutional continuity. Any such action shall be narrowly tailored to necessity and shall be reported to the Legislature within twenty-four hours.
No armed conflict initiated by the President without prior legislative authorization shall continue beyond fourteen days unless expressly authorized by law. No use of force under this Article shall be construed to permit invasion, occupation, regime change, general hostilities, or undeclared war absent legislative authorization. Congress may by law impose shorter deadlines, additional reporting duties, funding cutoffs, or other stricter limits consistent with this Constitution.
The armed forces of the United States shall not be used for general domestic civil law enforcement except where this Constitution or a law enacted pursuant thereto expressly permits such use in narrowly defined circumstances of invasion, insurrection, unlawful seizure of government, or material failure of constitutional order. Any such domestic use shall be temporary, subject to judicial review, and no broader than necessity requires.
The President may declare a national emergency only where an actual and extraordinary crisis threatens the safety of the Nation, the continuity of constitutional government, or the immediate capacity of the United States to defend itself or execute the laws. Every such declaration shall state with specificity the facts relied upon, the powers invoked, the territorial scope, the legal authority, and the anticipated duration.
No emergency declaration or emergency action shall:
Emergency acts and declarations shall at all times remain subject to judicial review and to termination by the Legislature.
The President and all executive officers shall preserve official records, communications, orders, decisions, meeting logs, expenditure records, and such other documentary materials as are necessary to provide a faithful public account of executive action. Congress shall by law provide for archival preservation, classification rules, public access, and penalties for concealment, destruction, or falsification of official records.
The President shall make regular public reports concerning executive administration, foreign commitments, emergency actions, significant military actions, use of pardon power, ethics compliance, and such other matters as law may require. In matters of military, intelligence, or other classified sensitivity, the public version may be lawfully redacted, but a public report shall still issue.
The President, Vice President, and all principal executive officers owe a fiduciary duty to the People of the United States. They shall act only for the public good as defined by this Constitution and by law, shall not use office for private gain, and shall remain bound by strict duties of honesty, disclosure, loyalty to the constitutional order, and avoidance of conflicts of interest. Congress shall by law establish comprehensive executive ethics rules, independent enforcement mechanisms, and penalties consistent with this Article, but no such law shall weaken the minimum obligations established herein.
Neither the President, the Vice President, nor any principal executive officer shall accept any gift, payment, benefit, office, title, emolument, loan, advantage, or thing of value from any foreign state, domestic government, contractor, regulated entity, lobbyist, or private person whose interests may be affected by executive action, except as narrowly permitted by law for ordinary ceremonial gifts of minimal value or for compensation fixed by law. Congress shall require full financial disclosure, divestment where necessary, blind-trust or equivalent separation rules where appropriate, and public reporting sufficient to secure confidence in the integrity of the Executive Branch.
No officer of the Executive Branch shall use public office, public money, public property, official information, intelligence capabilities, law-enforcement powers, prosecutorial powers, military powers, or the authority of the United States for personal enrichment, campaign advantage, retaliation, concealment of personal wrongdoing, or the protection of private associates, family members, or political allies.
The President and every executive officer shall comply with lawful judicial orders and lawful oversight demands issued under this Constitution, subject only to such narrowly tailored privileges as this Constitution and law may recognize. No claim of privilege, security, confidentiality, or executive interest shall be absolute. Congress shall by law provide prompt procedures for judicial resolution of disputes concerning executive compliance.
The President may grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment and except as limited by this Article and by laws consistent with this Constitution.
No pardon, reprieve, or commutation shall be granted:
Every pardon, reprieve, or commutation shall be in writing, shall identify the offense or class of offenses covered, and shall be preserved and published in the public record.
Upon the death, resignation, removal from office, or permanent disability of the President, the Vice President shall become President for the remainder of the term.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of Vice President, the President shall nominate a successor, who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority of each House of the Legislature.
Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, and until a written declaration to the contrary is transmitted, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Whenever the Vice President together with such principal executive officers or such other body as law may provide transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the Vice President shall immediately assume those powers and duties as Acting President. The President may resume the office only in the manner and within the time prescribed by this Constitution or by law, subject to final determination by the Legislature where dispute remains.
Congress may by law declare what officer shall act as President if both the Presidency and Vice Presidency are vacant or disabled, provided that any such acting succession shall be temporary, shall preserve democratic continuity, and shall not be construed to create a new elected term.
The President, the Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be subject to impeachment and removal from office for treason, bribery, corruption, grave abuse of power, willful violation of this Constitution, serious breach of public trust, or other high crimes and misdemeanors as understood under this Constitution and by law. Removal shall not bar indictment, trial, judgment, disqualification, restitution, or other lawful consequence.
No person shall be above the law by reason of holding or having held executive office. The President and all other executive officers shall remain subject to judicial process, criminal investigation, civil suit where otherwise authorized by law, and prosecution for unlawful conduct, subject only to such temporary procedural accommodations as are strictly necessary to preserve the functioning of constitutional government.
The Executive Branch shall execute the laws but shall not make law. No claim of administrative necessity, national interest, or executive discretion shall authorize the President to legislate by decree, refuse lawful oversight categorically, expend unappropriated funds, or continue programs contrary to statute.
The Executive Branch shall obey final judgments and lawful orders of the courts of the United States. No officer of the Executive Branch shall intimidate, direct, punish, remove, or otherwise retaliate against any judge for the lawful exercise of judicial duty.
The Executive Branch shall request, use, account for, and report public money only in the manner authorized by this Constitution and by law. No executive officer shall receive, transfer, hold, obligate, disburse, conceal, or redirect public money except through the lawful fiscal and accounting structures recognized by this Constitution. The Executive Branch shall comply with lawful audits, certifications, accounting requirements, and Censorial Orders in the manner provided elsewhere by this Constitution.
The President shall, within the limits of this Constitution and of laws enacted pursuant thereto, protect the States against invasion, unlawful seizure of government, and such organized violence or breakdown of constitutional order as may lawfully justify national action. No such action shall displace the constitutional powers of the States except to the extent strictly necessary to restore lawful government and protect constitutional rights.
The Legislature shall have power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying this Article into execution, including laws concerning elections, succession, vacancies, records, executive procedure, ethics, disclosure, emergency reporting, military reporting, foreign commitments, temporary acting service, and enforcement. No such law shall enlarge executive power beyond the bounds fixed by this Constitution, diminish the rights of the people, or weaken the minimum limitations and duties established by this Article.