Accountability Amendment

Accountability of Federal Employees and Office Holders

1. An Audit Branch shall be formed to manage all auditing, accounting, budgeting, and other functions that should be subject only to prevailing professional standards and not partisan whims. The head of this body, the Auditor, shall be selected by the People directly and is only open to those with relevant professional degrees. No one who has engaged in partisan office-seeking may appear on the ballot for this role. The terms shall be 10 years. They may be removed from office for criminal or partisan conduct by vote of three-fourths of State Legislatures. They shall be guaranteed budget of 2%** of the total budget each year.
2. Federal employees, appointed officials, public officials, including constitutional officers, and any contractors under the control of any of this set of Citizens are within the review authority of the Auditor.
3. The mission of the Auditor is to ensure that accurate accounting and reporting to the public is completed and that Citizens under the Auditor’s watch are operating within the boundaries of the law and generally-accepted accounting principles. Most work of the Audit Branch shall be made public. Work product of the Audit Branch is not reviewable by the other branches except when they are also made available to the public.
4. The Legislature shall still make law subject to the Constitution, but the Audit Branch shall ensure that the law is applied to federal employees and office-holders, including constitutional officers, equally to the Citizen. The Auditor shall make unbiased, non-partisan audit reports available directly to the public. The following agencies are moved to the responsibility of the Auditor: Internal Revenue Service, General Accounting Office, Office of General Counsel, National Archive, the independent auditors of all federal agencies, all statistical agencies. The Auditor shall have an enforcement team that has no authority over any Citizen except those listed in Section 2. These enforcement agents are supreme over any other enforcement agents with regard to this limited set of citizens.
5. Section 2 Citizens shall share the same Medicare healthcare plan and options as other citizens that are eligible. All compensation and benefits shall end when employment or term of office ends. The only exception shall be security services, whose parameters shall be decided by the Audit Branch and should be modest. Security for luxury or excessive travel shall not be borne by the public.
6. Compensation ranges for Section 2 Citizens are decided by market analysis of the Audit Branch and shall be comparable to similar roles in the market. Compensation actions shall be the same for all employment and office types.
7. No person shall hold more than one public office at a time. No one holding public office shall receive income from any other source while in office unless it be managed by an independent agent. All public officials are subject to the same restrictions on enriching themselves or their family or friends on information that the public does not also have.
8. The Audit Branch shall have the unreviewable authority to subpoena any records relevant to the implementation of this Amendment of any public official and suspend them from their office for up to 30 days. The body shall prepare a complete report of the charges to be made public at the time of suspension. To remove the office holder permanently, the body must have Consent of the Majority of Supreme Court, or two-thirds of the Senate, or three-fourths of State Legislatures. A person removed thusly may never again hold a public office.
9. Any public official credibly charged with a Felony while in office shall be suspended for up to 30 days for an investigation. The only exception shall be during War when properly passed by the Legislature and then the exception only applies to official actions and not personal actions. No one may serve in a public office having received a Felony in any jurisdiction.
10. No one anywhere in the Country is immune from an investigation or trial for a Felony at any time. If a law be unimportant enough that it should not apply to public officials, it should not be applied to any citizen. No one may withhold evidence of a crime from the public in order to spring it a more politically-advantageous time. The Accused will still be charged, but the Withholder shall never practice law again.
11. All provisions of this Amendment are active without Legislation. They may be elaborated by Legislation, but not reduced in its protection of the public from corruption.