As the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress voted out its first series of reforms today, Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee released the following statement: “At a time when politics is so divisive, it is refreshing to see bipartisanship in action. It is also heartening that the modernizing committee is already moving to increase transparency and help make
Read MorePrivate jets, luxury hotels, and expensive meals are par for the course as a majority of leadership PAC spending strays further from its intended purposes. A new report today released by Issue One and Campaign Legal Center (CLC) shows that instead of doling out funds to political allies, members of Congress routinely use leadership PAC funds to pay for expensive meals, rounds of golf,
Read MoreOn Friday, the Justice Department indicted Prakazrel “Pras” Michel and Low Taek Jho for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the 2012 presidential election. Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee issued the following statement: “This indictment highlights the tiniest sliver of money coming from secret and foreign sources that is influencing our elections. Our broken
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Today, 29 members of Congress in both chambers united to support the re-introduced Honest Ads Act. Issue One recruited 115 former members of Congress, governors, and Cabinet officials to sign on to the following letter, which was then sent to Capitol Hill calling on Congress to pass the Honest Ads Act and defend our elections from foreign interference. Special Counsel
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Today, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the Honest Ads Act (S. 1356) to combat foreign interference in U.S. elections. The bill is the best first step to stopping hidden, foreign disinformation campaigns in our elections. A bipartisan companion measure was also introduced in the House by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Elise Stefanik (R-NY),
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This week, six former elected lawmakers — all part of Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus — returned to Congress to offer very candid words of wisdom about how to fix Capitol Hill to the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Their advice included increasing resources and leadership pipelines for career congressional staff; establishing programs for rank-and-file members of Congress to
Read MoreIn response to Politico reporting of the new Democratic secret-money group Future Majority, Issue One CEO Nick Penniman released the following statement: “The Democratic party has a choice this election cycle: Will they try and win control of the White House and Congress by embracing dark money? Or will they walk their own talk and operate with the same transparency for which
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Issue One’s latest report, “Busted & Broke: Why the Federal Election Commission doesn’t work,” reveals why the FEC is dysfunctional and how the agency lacks the budget, staff, and teeth it needs to enforce the country’s campaign finance laws as the 2020 elections unfold. While it is common knowledge that the FEC gridlocks frequently, it is less known that the
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Earlier this week, the bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (or modernizing committee for short) held its first public hearing that solicited testimony from sitting members of Congress. Committee Chair Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Vice Chair Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), and other members of the committee heard proposals from 35 of their Republican and Democratic House colleagues about
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Republican Rep. John Katko (NY-24) co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that ensures the public knows who is trying to influence their vote in elections and prevents lawmakers from abusing leadership PAC funds. “Everyone has a right to know who’s spending money to influence elections. We are heartened to see Representative Katko be a part of meaningful bipartisan reform efforts in the House
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