Urge Congress to INTRODUCCE the "By the People" Amendment

For this task, we ask you contact your congress people, House Representatives and Senators, and urge them to sponsor legislation which will empower citizens with the ability to recall congresspeople, presidents and vice-presidents. A basic draft of the proposed amendment is attached. 

If you are ready to take action, click here. If you have the time, please read on to learn more about this effort and why we have taken the step to propose an amendment to the constitution.  

The baseline of American democracy is that public servants should answer to the people — yet our current system shields federal officials from the voters who elected them. 

When politicians abuse power, break promises, or fail the public, citizens are left completely powerless until the next election cycle. Instead, we currently rely on lawmakers to intervene on our behalf, and there are conflicts of interest all along this path. 

We must demand that lawmakers support constitutional amendments to establish federal recall rights, and we must also defend our hard-earned right to directly elect our Senators. 

The following are the basics to consider:

• We Need to Establish Direct Federal Recall Rights: Citizens currently hold zero direct legal power to remove sitting congresspeople, presidents and vice-presidents. This leaves accountability solely in the hands of their political peers. There is no way to avoid the potential for conflicts of interest and self-serving motives interfering with action being taken when appropriate or in response to public sentiment. 

• The Current System for Removing Congresspeople is Flawed: Members of Congress cannot be impeached by the public; they can only be expelled by a two-thirds supermajority vote from their fellow lawmakers. Only Senators can remove Senators and only House Representatives can remove House Representatives.  Lawmakers must be accountable to the public, not just each other. 

• The Current System for Removing Presidents and Vice-Presidents is Even More Flawed:  Presidents and Vice-Presidents can only be removed if convicted of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors". This requires a majority of the House to impeach followed by a 2/3 supermajority of the Senate to convict. Once again, there is no mechanism for the public to remove them directly, they must rely on congress. Without this power, out democracy is not yet fully realized. 

• The 17th Amendment is Also Now Under Attack: Rather than seeking to empower citizens, some lawmakers are actively seeking to repeal the 17th Amendment which would make it so senators are no longer voted for by the public. We need more power, not less. 

• The Constitution Must Be Amended to Establish True Accountability to the Public: The proposed “By the People Amendment” puts the power to remove congresspeople, presidents and vice-presidents in the hands of the people. It seeks to ensure the government is truly accountable to the people and there are mechanisms to remove the aforementioned if they fail to meet the expectations of the public. 

• This Amendment Democratizes Federal Oversight: It introduces a fair, secure, and structured federal recall petition process that allows voters to initiate special recall elections for the aforementioned federal offices. 

If you support this proposed amendment to our constitution, and believe that the people must have the ability to recall congresspeople, presidents and vice presidents without congressional intervention, then please contact your congresspeople and call on them to sponsor this proposed legislation.