JOHN'S POLICY POSITIONS

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What: Term limits for Congress, SCOTUS, senior Executive officials.

Constitutional amendment (Article V) specifying: House (e.g., 4 terms), Senate (e.g., 2 terms), SCOTUS (single 12-year term, staggered), certain PAS (presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed) roles (cap years in office).

Metrics: states onboard toward 38 ratifications; bipartisan co-sponsors; public support polling.

Guardrails: non-retroactivity clause; staggered SCOTUS terms to preserve continuity.

What: Mandate independent redistricting commissions using transparent, nonpartisan criteria.

Federal statute for U.S. House maps; incentive grants for states adopting similar rules for state maps.

• Required release of draft maps, public comment windows, algorithmic/compactness scores published.

Metrics: compactness indices; community-of-interest retention; litigation reduction.

Guardrails: open algorithms; audits by third-party academics.

What: Firewalls for DOJ, IGs, statistical agencies, Fed, CBO; binding due-cause removal standards for IGs; enforceable judicial ethics.

“Institutional Integrity Act” defining interference, creating penalties, and requiring logs/disclosures of contacts.

• Judicial ethics code with enforcement mechanism and recusal transparency.

Metrics: IG tenure stability; rule-of-law indices; recusal compliance reports.

Guardrails: balanced oversight (legislative + independent boards) to prevent capture.

What: Curb outsized sway by individuals earning/controlling ≥100× median income and mega-orgs.

Strict caps on donations to candidates/parties/PACs from covered entities; mandatory real-time disclosure (≤24h).

• Lobbying “cool-off” extensions; gift/benefit zero-tolerance; public meeting logs with staff notes.

Metrics: small-donor share; real-time disclosure compliance; enforcement actions.

Guardrails: First Amendment-sensitive design (focus on transfers of money/things of value, not speech).

What: Comprehensive clean-money rules.

Real-time e-disclosure; beneficial-owner transparency for all donors above a low threshold; ad “source stack” labels.

• Ban federal contractors and foreign-influenced corps from spending in U.S. elections; expand public matching for small donors.

Metrics: % small-donor financing; on-time disclosures; reduction in dark-money spend.

Guardrails: independent enforcement agency insulated from partisan control.

Proposed Language:

“No state of national emergency shall continue for more than sixty (60) days without explicit reauthorization by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress. Any continuation shall require public disclosure of the necessity, scope, and authority invoked. The judiciary shall have standing jurisdiction to review the validity of any emergency declaration.”

Why It’s Needed:

Presidents of both parties have extended emergency powers for years without congressional reapproval - from post-9/11 security orders still active two decades later, to public health and border emergencies that allowed executive spending and policy shifts outside normal checks.

Proposed Language:

“No armed conflict involving United States forces shall continue beyond thirty (30) days without a formal declaration or authorization of war by Congress. Any authorization shall specify objectives, geographic scope, and a termination date, renewable only by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress.”

Why It’s Needed:

Congress has not formally declared war since 1942. Successive administrations have conducted military operations in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and Yemen under broad or expired authorizations, leaving oversight weak and accountability diffuse.

Proposed Language:

“All members of Congress and Article III judges shall be subject to enforceable codes of ethics, including mandatory financial disclosure, conflict-of-interest recusal, and independent investigation authority. An independent Ethics Tribunal shall have the power to recommend censure, suspension, or removal.”

Why It’s Needed:

Both branches have suffered scandals involving undisclosed gifts, stock trading, and political influence, from members of Congress trading on confidential briefings to Supreme Court justices accepting undisclosed benefits without consequence.

Proposed Language:

“The President and Vice President shall be elected by direct popular vote of the citizens of the United States. Each vote shall carry equal weight, and the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be duly elected.”

Why It’s Needed:

In 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016, presidents took office despite losing the popular vote — fueling public distrust and partisan polarization, especially as population shifts amplify disparities between states.

Proposed Language:

“All citizens and lawful permanent residents subject to federal taxation shall be entitled to full voting representation in Congress.”

Why It’s Needed:

Residents of Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories pay federal taxes or serve in the military yet lack voting representation, violating the founding principle that representation must accompany taxation.

Proposed Language:

“No person shall grant a pardon or commutation for any offense in which they, their family, or their campaign have a personal, financial, or political interest. No President may issue a pardon to themselves or for any offense arising from their own administration.”

Why It’s Needed:

Presidential pardons have been used to shield allies under investigation or reward political loyalty,  from Watergate to more recent high-profile cases, exposing a structural loophole in the separation of powers.

Proposed Language:

“All elected officials, judges, and executive appointees shall, within ninety (90) days of assuming office, place all financial assets into qualified blind trusts and divest from any holdings that create, or may reasonably be perceived to create, a conflict of interest. Such divestiture and trust arrangements shall remain in effect for the full duration of their term in office and for a period of five (5) years following their departure from public service.”

Why It’s Needed:

Multiple administrations and legislators have maintained or traded assets tied to industries they regulate,  including energy, defense, and healthcare,  undermining public trust and policymaking integrity.

Proposed Language:

“Justices of the Supreme Court shall serve staggered twelve (12)-year terms, with one-third of seats expiring every four years. Upon expiration, a justice may continue to serve in a senior appellate capacity but not on the Supreme Court.”

Why It’s Needed:

Lifetime appointments combined with partisan nomination battles have turned judicial selection into zero-sum political warfare, eroding public faith in judicial impartiality.

Proposed Language:

“Members of the House of Representatives shall serve no more than six (6) terms, and Senators no more than two (2) terms. These limits shall apply prospectively and may not be circumvented by resignation or reappointment.”

Why It’s Needed:

Career politicians dominate Congress, with average tenures exceeding two decades,  leading to entrenchment, donor capture, and declining accountability. Limiting tenure ensures turnover and reintroduces citizen leadership.

Proposed Language:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote in all federal, state, and local elections shall not be abridged or denied for any reason, and Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Why It’s Needed:

Disputes over voter ID laws, purges, and access have exposed that the Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the right to vote. Courts rely on patchwork protections, leaving citizens vulnerable to suppression tactics.

Proposed Language:

“ Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity, nor by any condition of birth or personal circumstance unrelated to individual merit or conduct.”

Why It’s Needed:

The original Constitution, visionary though it was, did not explicitly guarantee equal protection for all people across the full range of identity and circumstance. While the 14th Amendment established “equal protection of the laws,” its interpretation has been inconsistent, and in many areas, outdated or limited by judicial precedent. Equality is not subject to interpretation or shifting political winds.  Federal and state governments are explicitly prohibited from discrimination in law, policy, or enforcement. Courts and agencies must justify differential treatment with clear, compelling reasons tied to the public good, not bias or tradition.

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