Media Center

As President Trump prepares to deliver his first State of the Union later this week, Common Cause and Democracy 21 are releasing a new report, “The Art of the Lie,” which pulls together a dizzying series of events and provides an overview of this unprecedented presidency. The report bundles together the crises, conflicts of interest, and new lows of the last year in 20 distinct issue areas to capture Trump’s failed first year record on matters of government integrity and accountability.

After an overwhelming vote by Common Cause Michigan members, the organization has endorsed and will advocate for the passage of the Voters Not Politicians anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment.

Today, Common Cause called on Congress to uphold its oversight responsibilities and investigate what appears to be a hush money payment to an adult film actress arranged by President Trump’s personal attorney just prior to the 2016 election. The call follows complaints filed yesterday with the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission.

Today, Common Cause filed a motion in the U.S. Supreme Court in Common Cause v. Rucho urging the court to expedite its review of the case in order to provide relief to North Carolina voters in time for 2018 congressional elections. Last week the Supreme Court granted a stay in the case after a unanimous decision from a three-judge federal court had ruled North Carolina’s congressional districts unconstitutional and ordered them redrawn by January 24, 2018. In today’s brief the successful plaintiffs argue that hearing the North Carolina General Assembly’s appeal on a slower standard schedule will unfairly result in North Carolinians voting this November in congressional districts ruled to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. This would be a fourth congressional election cycle using an unconstitutional map.

Americans expect and deserve an independent Department of Justice to enforce our nation’s laws free from political interference from the White House. Reported White House interference, including by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, offends the rule of law and must stop immediately. This interference is not appropriate at any time but certainly not when the Administration itself is under investigation.

Today, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ruled the state’s extreme partisan political gerrymander in violation of the state constitution and ordered districts redrawn by February 9, 2018. Common Cause helped to recruit the plaintiffs in the case and filed an amicus brief, which offered alternative constitutional maps, drawn by a panel of experts, that the legislature can utilize to meet the court deadline. Despite a roughly equal split in votes between the parties in each election since the 2011 redistricting, Republicans have consistently won 13 of the state’s 18 congressional seats.