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Your one-stop destination for political reform, government ethics and accountability news and updates from a nonpartisan perspective.

In 2018 midterms, liberal dark money groups outspent conservative counterparts for first time since Citizens United

Dark Money

Total dark money spending since Citizens United nears $1 billion. The 2018 midterm election marked the first time liberal dark money groups outspent their conservative counterparts since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in January 2010, according to a new Issue One analysis of data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Combined, dark money groups spent approximately $150 million

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Political Accountability and Transparency Act reintroduced in 116th Congress

Congress

Thursday, Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) — three co-chairs of the Congressional Reformers Caucus — reintroduced the Political Accountability and Transparency Act (H.R. 679). The bipartisan legislation lays a solid foundation for ensuring the public knows who is trying to influence their vote in elections and preventing lawmakers from abusing leadership PAC funds. “It’s

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Issue One CEO Nick Penniman: House Democrats must reach out to Republicans to create a bipartisan comprehensive political reform proposal.

Uncategorized

Last week, House Democrats introduced the most robust package of democracy reforms proposed in a generation as their lead priority for the 116th Congress. It is an incredibly heartening and hopeful sign for all of us concerned about the weakening of democracy at home and rapid rise of authoritarianism abroad. But we need more than good policy ideas at this

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Issue One commends U.S. Chamber of Commerce for adding bipartisanship to congressional scorecard, urges business lobby to join fight for political reform

Congress

Issue One CEO Nick Penniman released the following statement:  A significant sign that change is coming to Washington is that one of the largest political juggernauts in the country — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — is revising its decades-old Congressional scorecard to account for how bipartisan members of Congress are in their legislative work. The Chamber recognizes that dysfunction

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Issue One applauds the House for prioritizing modernizing Congress and strong accountability provisions in House Rules package for the 116th Congress

Uncategorized

Issue One – in partnership with the Rebuild Congress Initiative – has been aggressively pushing for the creation of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress that was just passed with overwhelming bipartisan support from 418 Republicans and Democrats who all acknowledge that the legislative branch needs to be brought into the 21st century.  “The House Democratic leadership should

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“Why We Left Congress”: Excerpts of Our Conversation with Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN)

Congress

Congressman Rick Nolan (D-MN) has had an unconventional career in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected to Congress in 1974 and went on to serve three terms representing Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. After 32 years out of office, he was again elected to Congress in 2012, this time representing Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, which encompasses most of

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“Why We Left Congress”: Excerpts of Our Conversation with Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN)

Congress

Congressman Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) has represented Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District for 30 years. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a 1988 special election following the death of his father, Congressman John Duncan, who had been in office since 1965. During the 115th Congress, Duncan served as the vice chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure

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Super PACs and dark money groups combined to outspend candidates in a record number of races in 2018

Election analysis

As Democrats and Republicans battled for dominance in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2018, super PACs and dark money groups collectively outspent the candidates’ own campaigns in a record-breaking 16 races, according to data provided to Issue One by the Center for Responsive Politics. Control of the House and Senate for the next two years was

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Issue One announces independent news publication “The Firewall” with Veteran CQ Roll Call Editors David Hawkings & David Meyers

News

Today, Issue One announced the creation of The Firewall, the only digital news publication dedicated exclusively to covering political reform issues and efforts at the local, state and national levels. Veteran CQ Roll Call editors David Hawkings and David Meyers will lead the publication as it builds out a reporting team and kicks off coverage ahead of its formal launch

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“Why We Left Congress”: Excerpts of Our Conversation with Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)

Congress

Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA) represented Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District from January 2005 until he resigned in May 2018.   During his tenure, Dent held a number of leadership positions. For two years, Dent was the chairman of the House Ethics Committee. He was the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies for

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