Congressional Ethics

“Part of democracy is being willing to accept the results of a legitimate election, even when it doesn’t favor you. We’ve just lost sight of that,” said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan advocacy group that supports voting rights. “Now what we’re hearing is this rhetoric that is leading people to believe democracy doesn’t work if it doesn’t get me my outcome. ....That rhetoric is absolutely decimating confidence in our democracy.”

Today, Common Cause urged every Member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection by a mob that stormed the United States Capitol, leaving five dead, in an attempt to stop certification of the legitimate election of Joe Biden as the next President. The letter urges Members to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office within 24 hours, and, if they do not, to immediately vote to impeach the President for inciting the deadly insurrection. 

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.

On this edition of Your Call, we'll discuss the state of the Georgia Senate runoff elections. The AP has now called the win for Democrat Raphael Warnock, who will be the first Black senator in Georgia's history. If Jon Ossoff wins, Democrats will have complete control of Congress. Later in the show, we'll discuss how dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate are planning to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory as Congress certifies the electoral college vote count. They are repeating dangerous conspiracy theories about widespread fraud and a stolen election. Civil rights lawyers and citizen activists say the damage they are doing should not be underestimated. What precedent is being set? Guests: Anoa Changa, Atlanta-based freelance journalist covering electoral justice & Sylvia Albert, director of Voting and Elections at Common Cause

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.