Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday released a plan focused on fighting corruption in Washington that she says is one of the key issues of her presidential campaign.
Fighting corruption has been one of the focal points of the 2020 Democratic hopeful’s career, and the newly released plan includes far-reaching, widespread proposals that would build on her anti-corruption legislation in Congress.
“Look closely, and you’ll see — on issue after issue, widely popular policies are stymied because giant corporations and billionaires who don’t want to pay taxes or follow any rules use their money and influence to stand in the way of big, structural change,” Warren’s campaign said in a statement announcing the plan.
{mosads}The Warren campaign lashed out at the Trump administration on the issue, calling it the “most corrupt administration of our lifetimes,” but added the problem they see in Washington didn’t start under President Trump.
The campaign said the plan includes “nearly 100 ways” to curb corruption. The proposals tackle each branch of government — and call to end problematic lobbying — looking to root out financial conflicts of interest in D.C.
Among Warren’s proposals is a requirement for the president and vice president to place businesses into a blind trust to be sold off when they take office, as well as for senior government officials to divest from privately-owned assets that could present conflicts of interest.
She’d also require that all federal candidates and officeholders publicly disclose their tax returns, a particular point of contention, as Trump has repeatedly refused to reveal his tax returns since he jumped into the 2016 race for the White House.
The proposal calls for banning government officials from trading stocks while in office, and bans members of Congress and senior staff from serving on corporate boards regardless of if they are paid to do so.
Warren says her plan will “padlock the revolving door between government and industry.” She proposes banning so-called golden parachutes that provide corporate bonuses to executives for serving in the federal government.
The plan also calls to restrict lobbyists from entering government jobs and make it illegal for elected officials and top government appointees to ever become lobbyists.
Warren’s far-reaching proposal also aims to hold the federal judiciary to “the highest ethical standards.” She proposes requiring the Supreme Court to follow the same Code of Conduct followed by the rest of the federal judiciary.
The plan aims to tighten existing rules prohibiting judges from accepting gifts, with a focus on all-expense-paid trips given to judges by corporations and advocacy organizations. She also proposes closing the loophole that allows federal judges to escape investigations for misconduct by stepping down.
In an effort to “end lobbying as we know it,” Warren proposes expanding the definition of lobbyists to include everyone who is paid to influence lawmakers and banning lobbying for foreign entities. She also proposes imposing stricter rules on lobbying and preventing lobbyists from donating to political candidates.