Accountable Government

Section 1: The Government Accountability Office is hereby established as an independent branch of government. Within sixty days after ratification of this Amendment, a GAO Office of Special Prosecutor shall be established. The Special Prosecutor shall be appointed using the same procedures as currently used to appoint the Comptroller General, and shall serve a single, non-renewable term of fifteen years.

Section 2: Should the President at any time abrogate his responsibility to appoint a Special Prosecutor, the Senate shall appoint one, subject to confirmation by two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives.

Section 3: The Comptroller General shall retain all existing current investigative and audit powers and duties, and shall continue to issue reports as necessary or as Congress or the President may request.

Section 4: The Special Prosecutor shall have the authority and duty to prosecute any and all crimes involving officials in federal, state, or lesser government office, and in furtherance thereof, without limitation or restriction, to compel the production of records for examination; compel testimony under penalty of perjury, contempt, or imprisonment; and issue grants of immunity.

Section 5: Congress shall appropriate all funds necessary for the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Prosecutor to faithfully and completely discharge their duties and obligations. Should Congress, in the judgment of the courts, fail to properly fund the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Congressional immunity from arrest during session shall be void and all members of the House Appropriations Committee shall be immediately confined without bail until such time as Congress appropriates sufficient funding.

Section 6: One-third of all fines and proceeds resulting from successful prosecutions shall be retained as supplemental funding for department operations; one-third shall be distributed as bonuses to all GAO employees, pro-rata according to position; and one-third shall be remitted back to the government agency exploited by the actions of the individuals or entities convicted.

Section 7: The Inspectors General or equivalent officials of all federal and state agencies, and all public or civilian oversight boards, shall provide the Government Accountability Office and the Special Prosecutor with the results of their audits, investigations, and oversight functions, together with all supporting material as may be requested.

Section 8: The Special Prosecutor may assist citizens filing suit to enforce laws under the 28th Amendment Right to Good Government.

Section 9: The annual salaries of the Special Prosecutor and the Comptroller General shall be One Million Dollars each, adjusted every five years using the cost-of-living formula set for retiree benefits by the Social Security Administration. Upon completion of term in office, Special Prosecutor and the Comptroller General shall continue to receive the same salary and benefits of office for life.

Section 10: During their term of office and upon retirement the Special Prosecutor and the Comptroller General shall not receive any other compensation except as might derive from properties and investments held prior to appointment, nor shall they accept any gifts or benefits from any organization, person, foreign government or business entity. Retired Special Prosecutors and their deputies shall not obtain other employment, lecture at any institution, or represent litigants except on a pro bono basis.

Section 11: Willful or negligent failure by the Special Prosecutor to perform the duties of office shall be a felony punishable by mandatory maximum-security incarceration for a period not subject to pardon, parole, commutation, or other grant of reprieve from sentence of at least ten years.