Draft amendment. Not yet rated or edited by the WeAmend community. Section 3 is an additional check-and-balance on this nearly unlimited power. If the President abuses their pardon power in the last few days of office, then it’s too late for Congress to engage their only remedy- impeachment. Section 3 provides a cooling-off period to restore balance.
Draft PP-18-01
Pardon Power Amendment
Section 1: The Article II Section 2 Power of the President to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States excludes the right of the President to pardon themselves under any circumstances.
Section 2: Any pardons or reprieves granted by the President may be nullified within six months after grant, by a 2/3rds vote of both houses of Congress. After nullification by Congress, the President may not pardon that same person for the same offenses until six months has elapsed.
Arguments FOR:
It is long settled law (and plain old common sense) that a criminal cannot be judge of their own crime. For absence of doubt, Section 1 simply memorializes this democratic tradition.
Section 2 recognizes that impeachment is the sole remedy for the misuse of Presidential powers. The same two-thirds vote sufficient for impeachment would allow a pardon to be reversed, so this amendment does not upend the balance of powers. But impeachments take time, cannot undo the effect of pardons crammed into the last days of the President’s final term, nor unravel the use of pardons to subvert the impeachment investigation. This amendment provides oversight without interference, except in the most egregious cases where impeachment is too strong a penalty, but the pardon should not stand.
Arguments AGAINST:
The Presidents pardon power is an essential check and balance against a legislature or judiciary harassing the president or his allies with baseless lawsuits, convictions and legislation. Limiting that power in any manner resets that delicate balance in favor of two of the three branches.