In response to Trump administration advisers launching the political nonprofit group America First Policies to support President Trump’s policies, Issue One Chief of Policy, Programs and Strategy Meredith McGehee issued the following statement: “Here’s the problem: It’s a sitting president. He’s in the business of raising money for an outside entity, and it creates a very stark opportunity for access and influence
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Issue One welcomes former Republican Representative Joel Hefley to the ReFormers Caucus. He joins more than 165 former members of Congress and governors fighting to return our government to the people. Rep. Hefley represented Colorado’s 5th District for 20 years, from 1987 to 2007. While in Congress, he served on the House Ethics Committee for three terms and is remembered
Read MoreThis statement has been updated following a review of the executive order on ethics signed by President Trump. “At first blush, today’s executive order on ethics signed by President Trump mirrors much of what was contained in the previous order signed by President Obama. However, there are two very significant differences,” said Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs and strategy
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We’re excited to announce that we’ve just updated our groundbreaking Blueprints for Democracy report with the latest money-in-politics and lobbying reforms from across the U.S. During the 2016 elections voters around the country passed several different reforms to their state and local campaign finance systems. Many of the changes are unprecedented, they’re wholly new and innovative systems designed to meet
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This op-ed originally appeared in The Hill. While Washington and social media are all atwitter over the STOCK Act and the confirmation hearing of Health and Human Services secretary nominee, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), it is a provision in the House ethics rules that should receive attention today. In the past 72 hours, questions have been raised about whether Price’s purchase of stock
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Issue One is pleased to welcome former Illinois Democrat Adlai Stevenson III to the ReFormers Caucus, a group comprised of more than 160 former members of Congress and governors from both sides of the aisle who are dedicated to returning government to the people. Sen. Stevenson comes from a long history of public service that traces back to Vice President
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Issue One welcomes former Nebraska Republican Representative Jon Christensen to the ReFormers Caucus. During his time in Congress representing Nebraska’s 2nd District from 1995 to 1999, Christensen served on the House Ways and Means Committee. He proposed an Amendment to the Constitution in 1997 to establish congressional term limits. With the aim of protecting small businesses, Rep. Christensen also authored
Read MoreIt was just last week that House Republicans tried to pass rules in the dead of night to weaken independent ethics oversight meant to police members of Congress. While the widespread public outcry on social media, television networks and burning through the Congressional telephone lines caused a temporary pullback of the rules, Republicans managed to weaken the office all the
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President-elect Donald Trump waded into uncharted waters today at his first press conference since he won the November election. Unfortunately, the Trump plan outlined to address conflicts of interest falls far short of what he needed to do. His decision to try to follow the narrowest letter of the law, rather than abide by the high ethical standards Americans expect of
Read MoreAhead of President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference tomorrow, which is scheduled to address his businesses and potential conflicts of interest, he named his son-in-law Jared Kushner as a senior adviser. Ethics expert and Issue One Chief of Policy, Programs and Strategy Meredith McGehee spoke with NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt about the appointment and potential conflicts of interest that
Read MoreCongress needs to act immediately to provide states with the emergency federal funding they need to run safe, secure and credible elections in November. The previous federal funding was an important down payment, but reports from state and local election officials indicate substantially more federal emergency assistance is needed as soon as possible. Issue One and many others are working to convince Senators to vote in July for more funding so that our November elections are safe, secure, and fair.
