In 2024, the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States created a dangerous loophole. The Court said a president has broad immunity for “official acts.” 

That means a future president could claim that using government power to affect an election is "part of the job."

This immunity removes our Justice system’s ability to stop a president from using public power for personal gain. It takes away the mechanism that prevents him from turning that power against the electoral process itself.

No American should ever need to worry that a president can:

• launch "official" investigations in opposition strongholds to intimidate voters and local officials, or

• use federal power to pressure state officials into slowing or blocking certification of valid results, or

• declare a “security emergency” that suspends or delays the transfer of power.

For decades, the Hatch Act has barred federal officials from using official authority to affect the result of an election. But when Congress passed the Hatch Act in 1939, it left out the President and Vice President.

It’s time to finish that job with a simple constitutional amendment.

 

The heart of the "Bright Line against One-Man Rule" amendment is one sentence:

    “No person, including the President, shall use official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or its certification.”

 

This amendment:

• does NOT favor any party or candidate.
• does NOT change who can vote or how votes are counted.
• simply draws a clear line: nobody can use the official power of the government to interfere with elections.

You can read more at One-Man-Rule.org, where there are also tools for writing to your Senators and Representatives.

We, the undersigned, call on every member of Congress to support, introduce, and pass the Bright Line against One-Man Rule amendment, and to send it to the states for ratification.

 

–––––––– FAQ ––––––––

Why doesn’t the Hatch Act already apply to the President and Vice President?

• At the time, Congress excluded them from the Hatch Act because they are inherently political roles. The law chiefly protects career federal employees from political coercion.
• This amendment lifts one core element of the Hatch Act and makes it universal: no one — not even the President — may use official authority to interfere with or affect the result or certification of an election.

 

Can’t we just rely on existing laws?

• Before the 2024 Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States, most Americans assumed that presidents would be held criminally accountable if they abused government power to affect an election’s outcome.
• The new immunity for "official acts" shifts that balance. It creates a gray zone where a president can claim that meddling in an election is part of the job.

 

The only way to close that loophole for good is to put a clear rule directly into the Constitution and put the power back with the People of the United States of America.