Press Release

“Americans expect and deserve accountability for the $2 trillion Coronavirus emergency spending bill, and Congressional oversight of this Administration’s handling of the funds is absolutely critical,” said Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn. “This attempt by President Trump to bypass oversight is nothing more than a corrupt power grab by an Administration known for bending over backwards to shower rewards on its political supporters. Congress must fight this move vigorously and hold President Trump accountable to the American people. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin negotiated the stimulus package with Congress and signed off on the oversight provisions in the legislation. This after-the-fact change of heart is a last-ditch effort by President Trump to get his hand in the till of a package passed to address a grave national health emergency.”

“The Trump campaign’s threat to revoke television station licenses for airing advertisements critical of the President’s actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic raises serious concerns that the President is potentially abusing his power to intimidate and retaliate against political opponents. The FCC has no authority to revoke broadcast licenses for airing political advertisements critical of the President’s actions. More importantly, the President cannot direct the FCC, an independent agency, to take this action."

Congress’s revised Coronavirus emergency response package provides critical funds to address our public health crisis, offers a lifeline to struggling Americans, and makes a significant down payment toward safeguarding our democracy. Every American expects and deserves to have their vote counted and their voice heard in our democracy, and the $400 million in election funding for states and localities is a step in the right direction. That total is nearly triple what Senate Republicans proposed in their initial bill. However, given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly, and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised. These resources need to be made available as soon as possible to prepare for the health and safety concerns around upcoming primaries and general elections while offering all feasible methods of voting to give voters the chance to participate in the election.

In a letter sent to members of Congress today, Common Cause laid out five key priorities on voting rights, the 2020 Census, and broadband access that Congress must include in the next stimulus package.

Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC,) and the Senate Ethics Committee calling for immediate investigations of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and James Inhofe (R-OK) for possible violations of the STOCK Act and insider trading laws. According to widespread reports, each of the Senators sold off significant amounts of stock from the personal portfolios after receiving classified briefings from government officials about the seriousness of the Coronavirus threat to the United States in January and February.

As public officials at every level of government wrestle with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including implementation of social distancing measures that impact the public’s ability to attend government meetings and other proceedings, Common Cause encourages public officials to adopt emergency measures to protect public health while maximizing transparency and remote public participation and limiting government business to priority functions necessary under the current emergency conditions.