In response to the news that multiple U.S. senators sold stock after receiving classified briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic, Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee released the following statement: “This is outrageous, and it’s a violation of the public’s trust. The reason elected officials get classified information is to make better decisions for the health and welfare of the public,
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At his confirmation hearing last week in the Senate Rules Committee, Texas attorney Trey Trainor’s remarks raised serious questions about whether he should be confirmed to serve on the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a post for which he has been nominated by President Donald Trump. “The answers that Trey Trainor gave at his confirmation hearing did not allay concerns about
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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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
Read MoreIssue One was joined today by 12 other organizations from across the ideological spectrum in urging all members of the House of Representatives to support a bipartisan resolution introduced last month by Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Tom Reed (R-NY) that would prohibit House members from serving on the boards of publicly traded companies. This common-sense resolution would change House
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This week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it revoked the dark money group Americans for Job Security’s tax exempt status. The announcement followed a complaint from Issue One and the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) against the organization. Americans for Job Security was a tax-exempt “business league” that spent tens of millions of dollars influencing elections while keeping its donors secret, but
Read MoreIn response to the House Ethics Committee’s statement today on the personal accountability of members of Congress that leave office after having paid harassment settlements with taxpayer money, as well as reform of the Congressional Accountability Act, Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee issued the following comments: “Any time the House Ethics Committee chooses to enforce the ethics rules and
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Issue One ReFormers Caucus Co-chair former Amb. Tim Roemer (D-IN) issued the following statement in response to White House Office of Management and Budget Director and former member of Congress Mick Mulvaney’s admission that campaign contributions were a requirement for meetings with his congressional office. “Sadly, we have yet another candid example of the wretched pay-to-play system in Washington, DC. Director Mulvaney
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A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate that would save taxpayers nearly $900,000 a year and increase political transparency has won over more sponsors than any other time since it was first introduced in 2003. With Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John McCain (R-AZ) and Tina Smith (D-MN) recently joining as official cosponsors, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S. 298)
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Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee issued the following statement in response to legislative language in section 407 on the second-to-last page of the much-needed reform package — the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act (CAA Reform Act), introduced by Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) and Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA). “While the country is distracted by the potential government shutdown,
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.
