Campaign Legal Center Endorses Reintroduction of the Protecting our Democracy Act

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Adam Schiff of California, joined by over 100 cosponsors, reintroduced the Protecting our Democracy Act (PODA), a comprehensive package of historically bipartisan reforms aimed at reducing corruption and implementing safeguards against abuses of power. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) endorses the legislation and Trevor Potter, Founder and President of Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement of support:  

“Voters have every right to be concerned about the health of our democratic institutions. The Protecting Our Democracy Act (PODA) includes a number of commonsense reforms to address those concerns and more. If enacted, this important bill will enhance checks and balances between our branches of government, strengthen federal ethics law, and protect our elections from improper interference by bad actors.” 

PODA strengthens Congress’s ability to conduct oversight and curb potential misconduct. The legislation enhances government ethics by establishing new protections for whistleblowers and inspectors general and requiring every executive branch appointee to sign a comprehensive ethics pledge before serving in an official capacity. Finally, PODA safeguards our elections from foreign influence. It extends the ban on foreign political spending from candidate elections to state and local ballot initiatives and increases transparency around digital political advertisements to prevent the type of foreign interference that can seep into our elections when transparency is lacking.
 
Passing the Protecting Our Democracy Act is an essential component of any effort to foster a more responsive government and build a democracy that works for all Americans. Congress must take up this strong proposal without delay.”