Section 1. Vesting of the Censorial Power
The Censorial Power of the United States shall be vested in a Censorial Branch, consisting of the Censor of the United States and two Censors from each State, styled the 1st Censor of that State and the 2nd Censor of that State.
Section 2. Nature of the Branch
The Censorial Branch shall be the branch charged with receiving, safeguarding, accounting for, certifying, auditing, and lawfully disbursing the public money of the United States, and with maintaining the official census and public financial record of the Nation.
Section 3. Composition
The Censorial Branch shall consist of not fewer than one hundred and one persons, being the Censor of the United States and two State Censors from each State. The State Censors shall be federal officers elected by and representing their respective States.
Section 4. Election of the Censor of the United States
The Censor of the United States shall be elected by direct national popular vote of the citizenry of the United States. A majority of all votes cast shall be required for election. If no person receives a majority, a runoff election shall be held in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law.
Section 5. Qualifications of the Censor of the United States
No person shall be elected Censor of the United States who has not attained the age of forty years, who has not maintained full-time permanent residence within the United States for at least twenty years, or who has been convicted of a felony involving financial fraud, embezzlement, or a crime of public corruption, including perjury. This disqualification shall not apply to pardoned offenses or convictions overturned on appeal.
Section 6. Term of the Censor of the United States
The Censor of the United States shall hold office for one term of five years, and shall be ineligible for reelection to that office.
Section 7. Election of State Censors
The 1st Censor and 2nd Censor of each State shall be elected by the people of their respective States in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law.
Section 8. Qualifications of State Censors
No person shall be elected a State Censor who has not attained the age of forty years, who has not resided full-time within the State for at least ten years immediately preceding election, who has not been a citizen of the United States for at least ten years, or who has been convicted of a financial crime or a crime of dishonesty, including perjury.
Section 9. Terms of State Censors
Each State Censor shall serve one full term of four years and shall be ineligible to serve a second full term representing the same State. A State Censor may represent only one State during any term to which that person was elected.
Section 10. Staggered Elections
The terms of the State Censors shall be staggered so that one State Censor from each State shall be elected every two years. The transitional and provisional arrangements necessary to establish such staggering at the commencement of this Constitution shall be governed by the Constitutional Transition Article.
Section 11. Succession of State Censors
Upon the expiration, resignation, removal, death, or other vacancy of the 1st Censor of a State, the 2nd Censor of that State shall become the 1st Censor, and a special election shall be held to fill the vacant office of 2nd Censor for the remainder or commencement of the term as provided by law. If the office of 2nd Censor alone becomes vacant, a special election shall be held to fill that office as provided by law.
Section 12. Vacancy of the Censor of the United States
If the office of the Censor of the United States becomes vacant, the Rotating Chair of the State Censors shall immediately serve as Censor-Interim. The Censor-Interim shall possess the power to certify existing lawful disbursements and maintain the Census, but shall not issue new Blocking Orders or initiate new Audits, unless such act is approved by seventy percent of the State Censors.
Section 13. Vacancy of State Censors
If the office of either State Censor becomes vacant, an emergency special election shall be held on the next regularly designated special election date established by law. No temporary appointment shall be made to that office.
Section 14. Movement Between Offices
A State Censor may be elected Censor of the United States only after the completion of the term to which that State Censor was elected. A former Censor of the United States may be elected as a State Censor if otherwise qualified and if not previously barred by the term limits applicable to that office. No person shall abandon one elected Censorial office before the expiration of its term for the purpose of assuming another Censorial office.
Section 15. Principal Seat
The principal seat of the Censorial Branch shall be established in Washington, District of Columbia.
Section 16. Treasury and Revenue Authority
The Censorial Branch shall receive and account for all taxes, duties, imposts, excises, fees, and other lawful revenues of the United States, and shall control the Treasury and all federal systems of receipt, deposit, transfer, certification, and disbursement of public money, except as otherwise specifically provided by this Constitution.
Section 17. Exclusive Monetary Accounting
No public money of the United States shall be received, transferred, held, disbursed, or concealed outside the system of accounting, certification, and reporting of the Censorial Branch, except where specifically authorized by law and still subject to the accounting, certification, and reporting requirements of this Article.
Section 18. Revenue Administration
The Congress may establish by law agencies for the collection and administration of revenue, including an Internal Revenue Service or its successor, but all such agencies shall be subject to the supervision, accounting, certification, and audit authority of the Censorial Branch.
Section 19. Lawful Disbursement
The Censorial Branch shall disburse public money only in accordance with this Constitution, valid laws enacted by the Legislature, and lawful orders having force under this Constitution. It shall not create appropriations, taxes, or budgets of its own authority.
Section 20. Refusal of Unlawful Disbursement
The Censorial Branch shall refuse to execute any disbursement that is unconstitutional, unauthorized, unlawfully indefinite, fraudulent, concealed, or otherwise prohibited by this Constitution or by law, and shall state its objections by Censorial Order. In cases of declared national or regional emergencies, the Censor of the United States may waive the initial refusal period to ensure the immediate preservation of life and property, provided that a full accounting follows within thirty days.
Section 21. Acknowledgment and Implementation of Law
Upon enactment of laws relating to taxation, revenue, appropriations, census administration, or public finance, the Censorial Branch may issue Censorial Orders acknowledging such laws, establishing implementation schedules, and setting compliance dates. The Branch shall direct the preparation of forms and procedures and provide notice to the public and affected entities. Failure by any officer of the United States to adhere to a Censorial implementation schedule shall constitute a presumptive neglect of duty; in such cases, the Censorial Branch may, by Censorial Order, withhold the personal salary and emoluments of the responsible officer until compliance is achieved.
Section 22. Census Authority
The Censorial Branch shall conduct an official census of the United States every five years, and may collect such demographic, economic, labor, housing, and related information as may be necessary for apportionment, administration, and public record, subject to this Constitution and to law.
Section 23. Certification of Census and Apportionment
The Censorial Branch shall certify the official census results of the United States and the States, and shall certify population and related figures necessary for apportionment and other constitutional and lawful purposes.
Section 24. State Certification of Federal Funds
The State Censors of each State shall certify, in the manner prescribed by law, the federal revenues received from that State, the federal funds disbursed into that State, and such other state-linked fiscal records as are necessary for public accounting and transparency.
Section 25. Annual Audit Duty
The Censorial Branch shall audit annually every branch, department, office, agency, instrumentality, and publicly funded entity of the United States, including military and intelligence expenditures through secure procedures where necessary. Where violations, deficiencies, concealment, or noncompliance are found, the Censorial Branch may require continuing quarterly audits or such additional audits as law and necessity require.
Section 26. Scope of Audit Authority
The Censorial Branch may audit financial administration, public accounts, contracts, grants, transfers, appropriations, liabilities, payrolls, inventories, funds, obligations, and all records necessary to determine the lawful receipt, possession, use, and disposition of public money or property. It may also audit the performance and compliance of programs receiving public funds to the extent prescribed by law.
Section 27. Compulsion of Records
The Censorial Branch may compel the production of records, accounts, ledgers, contracts, inventories, reports, and other evidence necessary to the exercise of its powers. Such compulsion shall issue by Censorial Order filed with the Supreme Court of the United States, and shall have the force specified by this Article unless stayed, modified, or set aside by the Supreme Court.
Section 28. Censorial Orders
A Censorial Order is the formal act of the Censorial Branch by which it may acknowledge laws, establish implementation schedules, compel records, order audits, certify accounts, publish findings, freeze or withhold funds, direct accounting corrections, issue notices to the public, seek clarification of vague enactments, and perform such other acts as are within the lawful power of the Branch.
Section 29. Issuance of Censorial Orders
A Censorial Order may be issued immediately by the Censor of the United States, or by vote of not less than fifty-one percent of the State Censors. Every Censorial Order shall be filed with the Supreme Court of the United States upon issuance and shall identify its subject, scope, persons or entities affected, and the time for compliance.
Section 30. Effectiveness of Censorial Orders
A Censorial Order shall take effect no sooner than forty-eight hours and no later than seven days after filing, as specified in the Order, unless this Constitution or the Supreme Court provides otherwise. The filing of the Order shall create a public docket under its identifying number, except as secure procedures are required by law for classified matters.
Section 31. Classification of Censorial Orders
Censorial Orders may be informational, administrative, implementation-based, audit-based, enforcement-based, protective, certification-based, public notice-based, or such other lawful class as law may prescribe. The nature of the Order shall govern who may challenge it and what relief may be sought.
Section 32. Clarification Orders
Where an enactment is vague, indefinite, incomplete, or otherwise in need of clarification before lawful execution, the Censorial Branch may issue a Censorial Order seeking clarification. Such Order shall require a response within fourteen days from the branch, office, or authority whose act is in question, unless a shorter or longer period is required by necessity and provided by law.
Section 33. Blocking Orders
Where an enactment, directive, transfer, or disbursement is unconstitutional, unauthorized, fraudulent, concealed, or otherwise unlawful, the Censorial Branch may issue a Censorial Order blocking, freezing, withholding, suspending, or preventing the execution of such act. Such orders shall be surgical in nature during times of emergency; Every Blocking Order shall be severable. A block placed upon a specific line-item, contract, or department sub-division shall not suspend the disbursement of unrelated funds within the same appropriation, provided those funds are certified as lawful.
Section 34. Publication of Findings
The Censorial Branch shall publish its findings, certifications, notices, quarterly account certifications, and audit results within a reasonable time by Censorial Order. In matters of military, intelligence, or other classified sensitivity, the public version may be redacted as necessary, but a public report shall still issue.
Section 35. Public Financial Record
The Censorial Branch shall maintain a public record of federal money received, certified, transferred, held, obligated, and disbursed, sufficient to provide an exact accounting of the public finances of the United States, except where limited redactions are necessary under lawful classified procedures.
Section 36. State Standing and Citizen Standing
A State shall have standing to challenge or enforce such Censorial Orders as affect funds, certifications, or disbursements relating to that State. If a State fails to act or fails to disburse funds or carry out responsibilities lawfully recognized under a Censorial Order, the citizens of that State shall have standing to sue the State or otherwise seek relief as provided by this Constitution and by law.
Section 37. Review of Censorial Orders
Any counterclaim or challenge to a Censorial Order shall be filed in the Supreme Court of the United States within thirty days of the filing of the Order, unless this Constitution expressly provides otherwise. After thirty days, the right to challenge the Order shall be barred, except for want of jurisdiction or other fundamental defect as the Court may recognize under this Constitution.
Section 38. Supreme Court Review
The Supreme Court of the United States shall have original jurisdiction over challenges, counterclaims, enforcement disputes, and questions arising under Censorial Orders. It may affirm, modify, stay, enforce, or set aside such Orders in the exercise of the Judicial Power.
Section 39. Noncompliance
If any person, office, branch, department, agency, or entity fails to comply with a Censorial Order, the Censorial Branch may file a notice of noncompliance upon the same docket. The Supreme Court shall thereupon resolve whether the Order must be obeyed, modified, or vacated, and may compel compliance or require a showing within ten days why compliance cannot be made.
Section 40. Internal Check Within the Censorial Branch
A Censorial Order issued by the Censor of the United States may be struck down or suspended by vote of not less than sixty percent of the State Censors within two days of its issuance. A Censorial Order issued by vote of the State Censors may be challenged or opposed by the Censor of the United States, but shall remain in force unless modified according to this Constitution.
Section 41. Committees and Investigative Panels
The State Censors may organize themselves into committees, councils, investigative panels, and other internal bodies as provided by law and by the rules of the Branch. Such bodies may be used to examine specific agencies, subjects, States, programs, or classes of expenditure, but all State Censors remain responsible for the constitutional duties of their offices.
Section 42. Presiding Officer
The State Censors shall elect from among the 1st Censors a Rotating Chair, who shall preside over the council or floor of the State Censors for the period and in the manner prescribed by law and by the rules of the Branch.
Section 43. Limits of the Branch
The Censorial Branch shall not legislate, shall not create taxes, shall not originate appropriations of its own authority, and shall not exercise the general executive power of the United States. It may act only within the powers granted to it by this Constitution and by laws made in pursuance thereof.
Section 44. Relationship to Other Branches
The Censorial Branch shall serve as a check upon the fiscal, accounting, census, and public-record acts of every branch and department of the United States, but shall not thereby control the legislative vote, the judicial judgment, or the general executive administration of matters not placed within its authority by this Constitution.
Section 45. Removal and Accountability
The Censor of the United States and the State Censors shall be subject to impeachment and judicial removal for high crimes, financial malfeasance, or breach of the public trust. The Censor of the United States may be expelled by the Censorial Branch only upon a vote of not less than seventy-five percent of the State Censors. A State Censor may be expelled by a vote of two-thirds of the total membership of the Censorial Branch. Additionally, the citizenry shall retain the power of Recall for any Censorial officer; a national recall for the Censor of the United States or a state-level recall for a State Censor shall be governed by the procedures established by this Constitution and by law.
Section 46. Funding
The budget of the Censorial Branch shall be a permanent appropriation equal to one-tenth of one percent of the previous year’s federal tax revenue, and shall not be subject to Legislative reduction or Executive veto.
Section 47. Rules and Further Legislation
The Legislature shall have power to provide by law for the procedures, election dates, forms, classifications, records, secure processes, committees, public reporting systems, census operations, audit standards, and enforcement mechanisms necessary to carry this Article into execution, but no law shall diminish the minimum powers and duties vested in the Censorial Branch by this Constitution.