Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, dark money in politics has exploded. And Donald Trump is stocking his regime with people who are—or might be, if the details weren’t a secret—deeply involved in dark money groups. Now, Democrats are proposing legislation to shut that down.
You don’t have to look far to find examples of the problem:
Democrats are offering a solution:
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), would require executive branch nominees to disclose whether they solicited or contributed money to political candidates, political parties, political action committees and, most importantly, nondisclosing nonprofits active in elections. Additionally, nominees would be required to enter into agreements with the Office of Government Ethics that would explain how they would avoid conflicts of interest after confirmation.
This is one more thing congressional Republicans will block, like every other Democratic bill intended to address a corrupt practice that benefits Republicans and their wealthy donors. But Democrats aren’t just making a statement here—the next time Democrats are in power, we want them to have as much good legislation ready as possible so they can move quickly to undo some of the damage Trump and Republicans are doing right now.