Your one-stop destination for political reform, government ethics and accountability news and updates from a nonpartisan perspective.
Recently leaked internal Democratic Party documents confirm a disturbing trend that Issue One has been calling attention to for years: Both the Democratic and Republican parties lean on members of Congress to raise astronomical amounts of money and expect House members serving on influential committees to pay for their positions. Both parties appear to follow the mantra that the more
Read MoreIssue One’s latest report, “5 Loopholes That Allow Foreign Interference in Our Elections,” reveals how our broken political system allows China, Iran, Russia, and other foreign adversaries to interfere in U.S. elections. From hacking our election systems to spreading disinformation campaigns online to using unregistered lobbyists, foreign actors are using more subversive tactics to attack our elections than ever before. “The
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According to a new Issue One analysis of campaign finance data, roughly $20 million has poured into the special election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, which voters will decide on Tuesday. Outside groups — including super PACs and dark money groups — have been major players in the race, spending nearly as much money in the race as the
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Super PACs focused on the 2020 presidential race have collectively raised nearly $18 million through June 30, according to a new Issue One analysis of federal campaign finance filings. All the while, these groups — which are allowed to collect unlimited amounts of money from individuals, labor unions, and companies — combined to spend $3.6 million, including expenditures on political
Read MoreThis week, Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) joined in co-sponsoring the Honest Ads Act, the best first step to protect U.S. elections from foreign interference. This brings the total number of sponsors in the House and Senate to 37 members of Congress — 18 Republicans and 19 Democrats. “The need to protect our elections against foreign interference
Read MoreBy midnight on Wednesday, all leadership PACs will have filed their first campaign finance reports of 2019. These reports will detail the fundraising and expenditures of lawmakers’ leadership PACs between January 1 and June 30. According to Issue One’s research, nearly every member of Congress — 86 percent — operates at least one leadership PAC today, including 42 freshman House
Read MoreToday, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress unanimously voted out of committee its second series of reforms. Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee issued the following statement: “This is an important day for the Select Committee that is dedicated to fixing Congress and making it a more effective body. It’s a strong package of recommendations that would have
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Congressional and presidential candidates alike filed their latest batch of campaign finance reports on Monday, detailing their fundraising and expenditures between April 1 and June 30. Here are some key numbers to know, based on an Issue One review of these new filings. $1.1 million The median amount of money raised during the second quarter by a sitting senator running
Read MoreRepublican Rep. Gregory Steube (FL-17) 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. Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee said, “We applaud Congressman Steube for working in a bipartisan fashion to help everyone know who’s spending money to influence our elections.” The original
Read MoreToday, Reps. Gregory Steube (R-FL) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) joined in co-sponsoring the bipartisan Honest Ads Act, the best first step to protect U.S. elections from foreign interference. This brings the total number of sponsors in the House and Senate to 35 members of Congress — 17 Republicans and 18 Democrats. “Foreign interference in our elections is a national emergency that
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