Government officials, such as members of Congress and Cabinet officials, hold power and influence. It’s important that they are working for the good of the American people, not just trying to line their own pockets.
Corruption happens when powerful people abuse their positions for personal gain. Corruption can take many forms, like a politician accepting bribes or an official using their government position to make their businesses more money.
When a politician or government official has personal financial stakes — like stocks or business interests — that prevent them from making an unbiased decision, this is a conflict of interest.
Conflict of interest laws exist to ensure government officials are working to make Americans’ lives better, not just making themselves richer.
For example, members of Congress have access to information that can affect their decisions to buy and sell certain stocks.
This places them in an inherently conflicted position. It is impossible to know for sure whether a member who owns stock is making a decision as a lawmaker, not somebody influenced by their own personal holdings.
Because members are elected to serve their constituents, the law should provide safeguards that ensure that they do not stand to financially benefit from their positions.
We’ve also seen multiple conflicts of interest in the executive branch. The executive branch's actions affect everything from food and water regulations to healthcare, taxes and education.
That’s why it's important that everyone from the president to Cabinet officials make these decisions without any undue influence.
President Trump, Elon Musk and members of Trump’s Cabinet all have conflicts of interests from businesses and investments.
Trump’s Cabinet members have thousands of conflicts of interest, including stock ownership in over 200 individual companies.
Musk's companies — Tesla and SpaceX — alone are a huge conflict of interest, as they have received at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade and span multiple agencies.
These powerful individuals have an obligation to either remove themselves from decisions that affect their personal interests or divest from — or sell — those personal interests so there is no longer a conflict.
From local government to the highest offices, uncovering conflicts of interest is an important way Campaign Legal Center (CLC) seeks to ensure officials work for the public, not themselves.
CLC is calling for the appointment of nonpartisan, experienced officials who will enforce ethics and transparency laws, including a director of the Office of Government Ethics and inspectors general.
Independent inspectors general across federal agencies are crucial to fighting corruption. President Trump illegally fired these officials shortly after taking office, making it virtually impossible to hold bad actors accountable.
If any public official takes corrupt actions, it is crucial to have effective ethics enforcement, so the American people have transparency.
Support our work today, so we can continue to hold this administration and all future administrations accountable.