Whether or not you’re a fan of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one remarkable fact of her political career is that she is one of the only speakers in over 50 years to lead a party and not be ensnared by ethics scandals.
Representative Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House Republican caucus, has promised to strengthen ethics if he becomes speaker, but whether...
“Democracy Decoded,” a podcast by Campaign Legal Center (CLC) returns today with a season focused on the freedom to vote. In our highly polarized political environment, this fundamental freedom is under attack by bad actors seeking to gain an electoral advantage. In its second season, Democracy Decoded explains these threats and how to respond with...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed complaints with four Inspectors General and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) concerning a pattern of senior agency leaders trading stocks connected to their official duties.
The complaints stem from a report by The Wall Street Journal that uncovered senior officials at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...
When Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (“BCRA”), the new law closed a loophole previously used to inject “soft money” — money that isn’t subject to federal contribution limits, source prohibitions, and reporting requirements — into federal elections. That’s essential to maintain transparency and combat corruption in our...
Since leaving office more than two years ago, Donald Trump has continued to tour the country, make speeches, and raise staggering amounts of money from his political supporters. Most of the former president’s fundraising has been through his leadership PAC, Save America, and some of the ways he has spent that money raise serious concerns under...
Foreign nationals have long sought to influence our elections to advance their interests over those of the American people. Since its founding, our nation’s leaders have cautioned against “foreign Interference, Intrigue, and Influence” in our elections and in our government. That warning should ring with even greater force today.
During the...
Oakland voters have taken a groundbreaking step to overhaul the way their city runs its elections and ensure a more responsive and accountable government. By passing Measure W, Oakland became the second city in the nation to enact a voucher-based public financing program that directly empowers its residents to engage in the political process.
This...
On Election Day, millions of Americans fulfill their civic duty to vote. Millions more will have already cast their ballot, either early or by mail, before Election Day. It may take a while – from a few days to a few weeks – to count all those ballots, but we need to be patient for our democracy to work for all of us.
A hallmark of our democracy...
A judge for the Cole County Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction in LWVMO and Missouri NAACP v. Missouri, blocking enforcement of several provisions in Missouri’s H.B. 1878. Specifically, the lawsuit challenged restrictions that criminalized certain voter engagement activities and assistance with absentee ballot applications conducted by...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC), joined by Democracy 21, has sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for its much-belated dismissal of two complaints CLC and Democracy 21 filed seven years ago in 2015 against former Florida Governor John Ellis “Jeb” Bush and the super PAC he established, Right to Rise Super PAC, resurrecting a matter the FEC clearly...
Written by Lica Porcile, a legal intern at Campaign Legal Center
Our democracy works best when every voter can participate, which is why every citizen should have a convenient way to vote in our elections and make their voice heard.
Vote-by-mail – sometimes called absentee voting – is a safe, secure and accessible way to vote that has existed...
Every election cycle, voters see, hear, and scroll past countless political ads that support or attack candidates vying for public office. Indeed, candidates generally spend a major share of their campaign funds on such ads.
But in recent years, political ads have increasingly been financed by outside groups like super PACs, which spend hundreds...
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moore v. Harper this December, where the court will consider a fringe legal theory that could give state legislatures nearly unchecked power to set the rules for federal elections – with potentially disastrous consequences for election law, the freedom to vote and the health of our democracy.
Mo...
To limit the influence of money in politics and prevent corruption and its appearance, federal campaign finance laws have long maintained contribution limits for candidates, political parties, and PACs. Even as our elections are drowning in outside, “independent” spending by super PACs and secret spending 501(c) groups, the amount that anyone can...
Polling shows that the public overwhelmingly disapproves of members of Congress trading stocks. This disapproval makes sense considering the lack of enforcement of current laws governing stock trading. But the lax enforcement of disclosure requirements for stock trades is just one example of the larger, systemic problem of weak ethics committees in...
Last month, the United States Senate once again failed to advance the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, vital legislation that would mandate transparency from entities spending money on political ads designed to influence our vote and our government. In the face of this continued impasse, the public...
Secret money in the political process deprives voters of information necessary to make informed electoral choices and makes our electoral system vulnerable to corruption and manipulation. Often used by wealthy special interests to rig the political system in their favor, secret money, also known as dark money, hinders progress on policy issues...
CLC Action has filed suit on behalf of Common Cause Georgia against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to enforce key pieces of federal election law against the organization True the Vote and the Georgia Republican Party.
In the leadup to the 2021 runoff elections for U.S. Senate in Georgia, True the Vote — a national nonprofit...
Election officials across the country are extraordinarily busy in the weeks leading up to the general election, with many administrative and logistical tasks to complete to ensure that elections in their communities run smoothly and securely.
Yet in many states, election offices are being inundated with frivolous mass challenges to voters’...
The United States Supreme Court depends uniquely on maintaining its perceived legitimacy among the American people as an institution acting based on law, not political preferences. But as the Court embarks on another term in October, its perceived legitimacy has taken a major hit.
One cause of this loss of respect is widespread disagreement with...
Over the last decade, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, through its transparency measures, showed us that members of Congress regularly trade stock despite conflicts of interest and allegations of insider trading.
This week, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to eliminate these conflicts of interest by...