Democracy Wire

Through nearly four years as a member of the Federal Election Commission, Ann Ravel fought the good fight to rein in the power of big money in politics; she departs with a challenge to President Trump to overhaul the agency by staffing it with commissioners who are serious about enforcing campaign finance laws.

By now, the town hall meeting in Salt Lake City with Rep. Jason Chaffetz on February 9 is old news. However, having been there, I find that I keep revisiting my impressions.

Representatives and Senators will be back in their districts and states next week as Congress recesses for President’s Day; their break is your opportunity to speak directly to them about the important issues facing our democracy.

An Oklahoma judge today gave Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, until Tuesday to turn over up to 3,000 state records that document Pruitt’s contacts with energy companies and trade groups.

Jeff Sessions is getting his first significant test as attorney general and the early results are not encouraging.

The Office of Government Ethics, the internal watchdog for the federal bureaucracy, is calling for disciplinary action against presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway after she violated ethical rules for government employees by going on national TV to hawk fashions for President Trump’s daughter Ivanka.