Abuse of Power

Actually, the I.G. protection component of the reform package has received early action in the House, according to Aaron Scherb of Common Cause, one of the watchdog groups pushing for these changes. On Jan. 5, the eve of the Capitol riot, the bipartisan Inspector General Protection Act — introduced by Representatives Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, and Jody Hice, Republican of Georgia — passed the House by voice vote. The act would help protect inspectors general from retaliation, for example by requiring the executive branch to notify Congress before placing an I.G. on administrative leave. And it would help ensure that vacant I.G. slots are filled promptly by requiring the executive to provide Congress an explanation for failing to nominate an I.G. after an extended vacancy.

Experts like Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, say the lack of moderation on apps like Parler is normalizing hate speech and other forms of "toxic" online content. "These platforms are where individuals can see their worldview reflected and encouraged, even if in complete opposition to the facts," said Littlewood. "This avoidable tragedy [on Wednesday] was fomented for weeks based on the president and his Republican allies amplifying disinformation about the results of the election."

Disqualification "has no bearing on the political committee money he already has raised, and it would have no bearing on his ability to continue to raise money into a political committee," said Paul S. Ryan, a top lawyer with the watchdog group Common Cause. Although Twitter's decision Friday night to permanently ban Trump from its platform immediately cut the President off from his 88.7 million followers, Trump and his campaign committee still have "an enormously valuable asset in their email list," Ryan said.

President Trump must be impeached and removed from office as quickly as possible. After inciting his supporters to violently storm the U.S. Capitol while Congress was certifying the election of Joe Biden as our next President, Donald Trump cannot remain in our nation’s highest office. President Trump has blood on his hands.

The American people voted in record numbers in 2020, and we chose a new President and Vice President. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in on January 20th. The fact that Donald Trump and his supporters don’t like the outcome doesn’t change anything. They would like to ignore the will of the people, but that is not how democracies work. In a democracy, voters choose their representatives, and politicians cannot override the people.

Americans expect and deserve a strong democracy, but we can never take the health of our democratic system for granted. The For the People Act (H.R. 1) brings to bear transformative reforms that will help safeguard our democracy which has been increasingly under attack by enemies both foreign and domestic. It has become clear that we must shore up the defenses of our democracy by expanding access to the franchise, empowering the voices of everyday Americans in our elections, and upholding strong ethical standards in government. H.R. 1 contains reforms that address all three pillars. Many of the solutions in H.R. 1 have worked successfully at the state and local level for years.