Press Release

Whoever becomes the next Attorney General of the United States -- whether acting or permanent -- must make a public commitment not to interfere in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Voters put a check on President Trump, are seeking balance in our democratic process, and were willing to stand in unnecessarily long lines to send a message. Where voters could cast a ballot to strengthen democracy, they did. With a record turnout, democracy won in many ways in 2018. Now voters must stay engaged to improve infrastructure and hold leaders accountable if they don't work to resolve these issues.

Today, the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the telecommunications industry seeking to vacate the D.C. Circuit’s 2016 decision to uphold the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules. The Supreme Court also declined to remove the precedential value of the D.C. Circuit’s 2016 opinion. The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai repealed its 2015 net neutrality rules but monopoly cable and telephone companies also wanted the 2016 D.C. Circuit decision upholding the rules wiped from the record.

Common Cause today filed a motion to affirm Common Cause v. Rucho, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to agree with a trial court ruling that North Carolina’s congressional map is an illegal partisan gerrymander. If the Supreme Court decides to hear Common Cause v. Rucho, it could result in the first ever decision by the high court stating that partisan gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution.  

Today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals returned a ruling that empowers more Ohioans to make their voices heard at the ballot box. The ruling addresses the voters who were aggressively purged from the voter rolls, granting them the right to vote provisionally and have their ballots counted. This ruling will give more Ohioans an opportunity to help chart the course for our state in the future. With so much at stake in this year’s election, I’m heartened knowing that more eligible voters will have the option to take part in our democracy.

Today, Common Cause, joined by current and former elected and appointed Republican officials, filed an amici brief in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in support of the New York State’s challenge to the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The brief filed in State of New York v. United States Department of Commerce, emphasizes that the United States Constitution, and subsequently the Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees the right of every resident of the United States to be represented by a member of Congress. The Commerce Department’s addition of the citizenship question, the brief argues, will cause undercounts in areas with large non-citizen populations resulting in a Congress that will not be equally apportioned by population as the Founders intended.