How an Independent Ethics Committee in the Senate Would Help Reduce Corruption and Increase Accountability in Our Democracy

Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, members of Congress must disclose a stock trade within 45 days of the trade with no exceptions.

Washington D.C. – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for failure to comply with the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.

In a filing that was well over a year late, Sen. Paul revealed that his wife purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Gilead Sciences, the maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir, in February 2020. Remdesivir would go on to become the first drug to be approved for treating COVID-19.

“The STOCK Act was enacted in order to give voters real time transparency regarding the financial holdings and interests of their elected officials—shining a light on any possible conflicts of interest,” said Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “This filing, coming over a year late and detailing the financial interest a senator held in a company producing an antiviral drug from the onset of a global pandemic, is a clear example of why greater STOCK Act enforcement is needed.”

According to the filings, these trades occurred at roughly the same time as the trades that earned Paul’s fellow senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) widespread criticism. In the wake of this criticism, Burr would go on to announce he is not running for reelection in 2022, and Loeffler subsequently failed to win reelection.

According to a spokesperson, the disclosure was almost a year and a half late because the initial filing wasn't properly transmitted. All members of Congress and their staff receive mandatory STOCK Act training—an improper transmission is not an exception under the law.

Sen. Paul is not unique in this regard, and his actions follow a troubling, bipartisan trend. Recent examples of other members of Congress failing to disclose stock trades include Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), all of whom CLC has filed complaints against with congressional ethics offices in 2021.

If elected officials are not held accountable for failing to promptly and properly disclose stock trades, this trend may continue and worsen, with members delaying disclosure and only facing a nominal fee as a consequence. Such a lack of accountability allows members to essentially circumvent the STOCK Act.

When elected officials prioritize their own financial self-interest, they are not only hurting their own accountability, but they are diminishing public trust in government. As members of Congress craft laws that directly impact the lives of all Americans, the public must be able to trust that representatives are acting in the public’s interest. 

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

Congress can and must act to guarantee equal, nondiscriminatory access to the freedom to vote

WASHINGTON – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) released a report grading states on their 2021 legislative sessions. This is the first report to zoom in on how states have changed their vote-by-mail and early voting laws this year, finding that seven states enacted restrictive laws in the first half of the year. The report uses a ten-point scale to grade the performance of all states that have completed their legislative sessions, examining the impact of changes caused by COVID-19 and detailing which states are making those changes permanent.

CLC held a press call on voting rights today with New Georgia Project, viewable here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced early Wednesday his plan for floor action in September on a revised version of the For the People Act, signaling that it will be a top priority after the Senate returns from recess. The report details how the new bill would positively impact the 13 states included in the report who currently require an excuse to vote by mail, and the 16 states included in the report that don’t currently have a two-week early voting period. In addition, at least four states that passed restrictive laws in the first half of this year would have been subject to preclearance – which would have required them to prove to the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court that their laws did not discriminate against voters of color – if the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were in place.

“Federal intervention would have succeeded in preventing dozens of states from passing laws this year that severely curtail millions of Americans’ freedom to vote. Voting rights legislation must be passed urgently by Congress when they return from recess before more damage is done,” said Caleb Jackson, legal counsel, voting rights at Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a co-author of the report. “The expansion of vote-by-mail and early voting opportunities were key to the 2020 election having the biggest election turnout in a century. States should be working to expand these opportunities so that voter turnout can continue to improve. Our democracy works best when all voters are able to exercise the freedom to vote in safe and accessible elections.”

CLC’s report findings include:

• Racial impact: With the exception of Maryland, the legislatures in states with the highest Black populations that changed their vote-by-mail and early voting policies each made changes for the worse: Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
• COVID-19 Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic led several states to expand access to vote by mail and early voting. During the 2020 elections, 10 states changed their laws to allow all eligible voters to vote by mail either generally or because they feared contracting the coronavirus. Only one of the 10 states that expanded vote-by-mail eligibility in 2020 is in the process of making that expansion permanent: New York. One of the four states that extended its early voting period during the pandemic permanently established three days of early voting through a bipartisan election reform package: Kentucky.
• Partisan Impact: In 2020, we saw an expansion of vote by mail in red and blue states alike. Five of the 10 states that expanded vote-by-mail eligibility in 2020 were states that the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, won by 10 or more percentage points. Trump also won every one of the four states that expanded their early voting periods in response to the pandemic.

Under the law, candidates for federal office are barred from coordination with super PACs and other outside groups supporting their candidacy.  

Washington, D.C. - Today, Campaign Legal Center Action (CLCA) and End Citizens United (ECU) sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after the Commission deadlocked, dismissing ECU’s complaint against Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida).

ECU had filed a complaint with the FEC to hold Sen. Scott accountable for coordination with New Republican PAC, a super PAC which spent over $29 million supporting his election during the 2018 cycle.

At the heart of the complaint is the fact that Scott, who served as chairman of the super PAC from May 2017 until the end of that year and employed several close allies, raised significant funds for the group before launching his bid for Senate in April 2018. During that time, the group’s stated purpose was to support President Trump. On the day of Scott’s declaration, New Republican PAC declared in a press release that it was now “focused on the election of Rick Scott” and spent significantly to support his election.

Despite the FEC’s general counsel concluding there was reason to believe Scott broke the law and recommending further investigation, the FEC dismissed the complaint, split 3-3 in a deadlock along party lines.

In response to this dismissal, End Citizens United is now filing a lawsuit, asking the court to direct the FEC to take action against Scott for illegally using his super PAC to raise and spend millions of dollars on his Senate campaign.

This is another example of gridlock at the FEC undermining its ability to enforce anti-corruption campaign finance laws and why we need to enact the For the People Act (H.R.1/S.1) to reform the FEC. The For the People Act would restructure the FEC’s enforcement process, making it a more effective watchdog that enforces the law.

“Once again, the FEC is betraying the American people by allowing massive election cheating to go unpunished,” said Adav Noti, Senior Director of Trial Litigation and Chief of Staff at CLC Action, and former Associate General Counsel of the FEC. “While we are confident the courts will hold the FEC and Senator Scott accountable, our nation needs and deserves an election enforcement agency that actually enforces the law. Congress must overhaul the FEC and permanently break this cycle.”

“The FEC’s refusal to enforce the law and allow politicians like Senator Rick Scott to blatantly break campaign finance rules is an affront to the American people and undermines our free and fair elections,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United. “No political candidate should be allowed to get away with breaking the law to win an election and if we have to use the courts to get the FEC to enforce the law, we will continue to do so. But it’s a short-term action that doesn’t solve the bigger problem. Congress must step in and pass the For the People Act to reform the FEC and stop political candidates from engaging in these corrupt practices to win elections.”

Federal law and FEC regulations prohibit candidates from soliciting contributions to super PACs unless certain critical measures are taken to ensure that the solicited contributions comply with federal contribution limits and prohibitions. Senator Scott took no such measures during his time leading New Republican PAC, instead raising millions of dollars which were later used to support his election. By dismissing this case, the FEC is yet again showing that it is not the effective watchdog this country needs. 

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

Web Tool Empowers Americans to Demand Fair Maps During Map Drawing Cycle 

WASHINGTON – In preparation for the August 12 release of redistricting data by the U.S. Census Bureau to the states, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is relaunching PlanScore.org, an empowerment tool to measure voting maps and evaluate them for partisan impact. 

As the 2021 map drawing cycle heats up, PlanScore will collect and analyze new district plans as they are proposed in states nationwide. The free web tool is intended for map drawers to assist them in ensuring they are creating fair maps, and also for policymakers, advocates and journalists to hold map drawers accountable to fair districting standards.  

“The voting districts that will be finalized in the coming weeks will be cemented for the next 10 years. PlanScore.org empowers voters to hold map drawers accountable and demand fair maps during this critical map drawing year,” said Mark Gaber, director, redistricting at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “Visitors to the website can score new district maps and assess whether the plans are gerrymandered. We are bringing the ability to measure partisan gerrymandering directly to the people and giving map drawers a tool to ensure that they draw fair maps.”  

The site contextualizes the gerrymandering taking place this cycle by allowing visitors to click on states and compare them to other states or previous maps from the same state. PlanScore.org presents the most comprehensive historical dataset of partisan gerrymandering ever assembled, going back to the 1970s, and includes all four main academic measures of gerrymandering.

To interview an expert for a redistricting story, email [email protected]. 

“Voting districts drawn this year will shape our lives and our communities for the next decade,” said Ruth Greenwood, director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School, and a PlanScore founder. “But first, to understand the impact of gerrymandering on our voting maps, we need to be able to measure it. That is where PlanScore comes in. With the help of data from election experts around the country, we are expanding this free service to score and publish plans for all 50 states. This is a tool to help advocates hold map drawers accountable.” 

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.