E. Institutional Authority

Subject only to judicial review, Congress shall have the sole authority to create or dismantle institutions of government, except where such institutions are expressly mandated or prohibited by this Charter. For purposes of this subsection, “institutions of government” means federal offices, agencies, departments, military branches, and other federal entities, including all their subordinate agencies and bodies.

Congress decides the size and scope of government. There are exceptions, which I will discuss below, but this is unambiguous. No one else can eliminate or create agencies, branches of government, or other federal authorities.

The first big exception is those agencies that this Charter mandates. Those can’t be manipulated by Congress, except as far as the language of the Charter authorizes Congress to do so. Otherwise, why did I bother enshrining them in constitutional text in the first place?

The other exception is judicial review. The courts can find an institution unconstitutional, but only within the bounds (obviously, I would hope) of the Charter itself.

Why is this necessary? The growing power of the executive has assumed this power. At the time of this writing, the constitutionality of the executive assumption of this power hasn’t been thoroughly tested in the courts.